No remorse for 77 victims of guns and bomb as Breivik goes on trial
THERE was no apology, certainly no remorse from Anders Behring Breivik.
In dark suit and gold tie, the Norwegian mass murderer – a smile playing on his lips – walked into court yesterday oozing defiance.
Aware that the eyes of the world’s media were upon him, the far-right extremist waited for police to remove his handcuffs before performing a closed-fist, Nazi-style salute for the cameras.
Breivik smirked at footage of his devastating bomb attack which claimed eight lives in the centre of Oslo last summer.
He was nonchalant as prosecutors listed graphic details of how 69 victims, mainly teenagers, died during his gun rampage on the island of Utoya that same day in July.
At one point during the first day of his tenweek trial he broke down and wept – but not for his innocent victims. His eyes welled up as a 12-minute video of his own deranged rightwing ‘manifesto’ was shown. It is accompanied by an 1,800-page document in which he calls for an end to ‘ Muslim infiltration of Europe’ and the multiculturalism he so despises.
The first 80 minutes of proceedings at Oslo District Court were taken up with naming those he killed on July 22 last year.
An impassive Breivik simply sat and stared at court paperwork before him.
There was no flicker of emotion from the 33year-old self-confessed killer as details were given of the horrific injuries suffered by those who died after he planted a van bomb in the centre of the Norwegian capital.
The sickening list of pistol and gunshot wounds suffered by those on the island of Utoya, where he went after the bombing, left him similarly untroubled.
Such was the horror of the graphic descriptions of their
‘The attacks were
necessary’
injuries that Norwegian TV, broadcasting proceedings live to the nation, blanked out the details.
The court was shown pictures of Breivik wearing paramilitary uniforms and posing with the guns he would use to kill so many innocent victims.
At the start of the trial he conceded he was behind the bombing and shootings which left 77 dead but added: ‘I admit to the acts – but not criminal guilt.’
He claims the attacks were necessary to protect Norway from being taken over by Muslims.
THE DROPOUT
BREIVIK was an Oslo teenager living with his mother when he dropped out of secondary school in 1997.
He began working for a telesales firm in its customer service department but several attempts to start business ventures failed.
Breivik finally made some money when he started a business called Diploma.com in 2002, selling false educational certificates, giving him enough money to move out of his mother’s flat and bankroll his massacre.
THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
HE told police he was a resistance fighter in a far-right militant group modelled on the medieval Knights Templar, who fought during the Crusades.
Officers could not find any such organisation – despite Breivik claiming he even travelled to London for a meeting – and the prosecutor Svein Holden told the court: ‘In our opinion, such a network does not exist.’
Between 2006 and 2007, Breivik became obsessed with the online role- playing game World of Warcraft.
THE BOMB FACTORY
AS Breivik became immersed in his ‘crusade’ to rid Norway of Muslims he began purchasing police uniforms and badges, guns and ammunition, and bomb ingredients.
He spent more than £25,000 on 11 credit cards. Last year he rented a farm 100 miles north of Oslo, where he registered himself as a business cultivating ‘root and beet’ items. This enabled him to order vast amounts of fertiliser to make his van bomb.
THE OSLO BLAST
A WEEK before the atrocity Breivik rented two vans from an Avis outlet in Oslo – a Volkswagen and a smaller Fiat Duplo. The VW was loaded with explosives and the Fiat was his transport to Utoya. On July 22 he posted his ‘manifesto’ on the internet using a computer in a small room at his mother’s home. The court was shown CCTV footage of Breivik parking the larger van, containing a 2,000lb bomb, outside the entrance to the offices of the prime minister and minister of justice at 3.17pm.
After lighting a fuse with a burn time of seven minutes he was seen walking away towards his getaway car.
In the moments before the explosion 32-year- old blast victim Jon Vegard Lervag was seen walking towards the back of the van. There were gasps in the court as the screen filled with a yellow fireball.
As the devastating blast and the death of the innocent passerby was shown on screen, Breivik looked on impassively, merely raising his eyebrows as the bomb went off.
ROLL CALL OF DEATH
RECITING the names of the Oslo and Utoya victims took court prosecutor Inga Bejer
engh more than 80 minutes. Among the eight who died in and around the government building was 61-year- old hanne Marie Orvik endresen.
She had been in the reception area and suffered sickening injuries to her intestine and abdomen.
But it was the sheer detail of what happened when Breivik got to the island and began to kill the young Labour party supporters that will stick in the memory.
The youngest victim was 14year-old Sharidyn Svebbak-bohn who was shot in the lungs and chest by Breivik.
She had been trying to shelter on an escarpment at the water’s edge.
Moments earlier she had heard the screams of 17-year-old Sondre Dale who was shot four times through the throat and chest.
In the café on the island 18year- old Bendik ellingsen was shot a total of eight times – with bullets also entering his head twice.
Another café victim was Aleksander eriksen, 16, shot six times in the head.
One victim who thought he might escape Breivik was 16year-old Andreas Gronnesby, but as he ran away he fell off a cliff near the island’s West Point. he was found dead in the water with a fractured pelvis.
hakon Odegaard, 17, also tried to swim from the island to escape Breivik’s bullets. he was found drowned.