Anders Behring Breivik, who has confessed to killing 77 in Norway on 22nd July, has made his first public appearance in court in front of survivors, victims’ families and reporters.
The right-wing extremist again refused to plead guilty to terror charges, despite admitting planting a bomb in Oslo’s government quarter and going on a shooting spree at a youth camp on Utoya Island.
The 32 year-old is currently undergoing psychiatric tests but is expected to stand trial beginning on 16th April next year. He will be held in custody for at least another 12 weeks, but the judge agreed to relax the killer’s solitary confinement conditions.
Dozens of people crammed into the Oslo District courtroom, with hundreds more watching the proceedings in overflow rooms via video link.
Wearing a dark suit and appearing calm, Breivik said: “I am a military commander in the Norwegian resistance movement,” before attempting to question the legitimacy of the court. He has previously claimed the attacks were “necessary” to rid Norway and Europe of Muslim control.
On 22nd July, the Norwegian national dressed as a police officer and exploded a car bomb close to government offices in Oslo, killing eight people. He then went to Utoya Island and carried out an hour-long shooting spree at a Norwegian Labour Party summer youth camp. Comprising mainly of teenage victims, Breivik killed 69 people on the island and injured dozens more before he was finally arrested.