The man commissioned with defending Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has revealed that he will publish his personal account of the trial. The announcement from Geir Lippestad marks one of the few times the attorney has spoken out about the case other than previously having told the media that he was “shocked” that Breivik sought him for defence. The request came just days after Breivik admitted to planting bomb in central Oslo before going on a shooting rampage at Utøya Island on 22 July 2011. In total, 77 people were killed and many more wounded.
Lippestad has also expressed his disapproval of two other books about the incident: The Private Emails of a Mass Murderer’ and ‘En norsk tragedie’ (‘A Norwegian Tragedy’).
But Lippestad told the media on Tuesday (15 January) that he plans to publish details of his own experience via the book ‘Det kan vi stå for’ (‘We Can Stand by This’). The work will reportedly provide insight into the reasons why Lippestad chose to accept the task of defending Norway’s worst criminal since WWII, inspite of colleagues’ objections, the NRK news agency reported.
Mr Lippestad’s book will be on shelves in April via the Aschehoug publishing firm, according to TheForeigner.no.