Breivik admits killing 77, pleads not guilty

Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

Anders Behring Breivik raises his fist as he arrives to courtroom for the first day of his trial in Oslo, Monday.

Anti-Islam militant Anders Behring Breivik admitted he had killed 77 people in a massacre last July, but said he was pleading not guilty to the criminal charges against him on the first day of his trial in Norway Monday, The Associated Press reported.

As he arrived in court – the early part of the session was broadcast on television – Breivik gave a salute, raising his arm with his first clenched.


He said that he did not “acknowledge the authority of the court.”

“I do not recognize the Norwegian courts. You have received your mandate from political parties which support multiculturalism. I do not acknowledge the authority of the court,” Breivik said.

He was asked to confirm details such as his date of birth and the judge then asked if he was unemployed.

“That is not correct. I am a writer and I work from prison,” Breivik said.

A prosecutor then began reading the list of all 77 victims, describing how each was killed.

Norway mass shooter Anders Breivik declared ‘sane’

The facts of the case will hardly be at issue; even before the court hearing Breivik had proudly admitted bombing the government’s headquarters in Oslo last July, killing eight people, before gunning down 69, mostly teenagers, at a summer camp of the ruling Labor Party.

However, the court will have to decide whether Breivik is sane. If sane, he faces up to 21 years in prison; if deemed criminally insane, he would be committed to psychiatric care.

By denying his criminal guilt, the “lone wolf” killer intends to subject the country to a trial scheduled to last 10 weeks, during which the court must rule on both his guilt and his sanity.

New details have emerged about the arrest of self-confessed Norwegian killer Anders Breivik, as well as the terror rampage left 76 people dead in the normally peaceful Scandinavian country. NBC’s Martin Fletcher reports.

“Not only will he explain (his actions), but he will also say he regrets that he didn’t go further,” Geir Lippestad, Breivik’s defense attorney, said before the trial began, according to Reuters.

Lippestad urged Norwegians to brace themselves for “tough and demanding” testimony.

Anders Breivik posted a 1,500-page manifesto online Friday that detailed his violent plans for starting a revolution to end multiculturalism. NBC’s Martin Fletcher reports.

Some Norwegians fear Breivik will succeed in making the trial, with about 800 journalists on hand, a platform for anti-immigrant ideas. His defense team has called 29 witnesses, ranging from Islamists to right-wing bloggers, to shed light on his world view.

“It is an unfortunate side effect that this provides him a microphone for his ideology,” Atle Dyregrov, the director for the Center for Crisis Psychology, told Reuters. “For the victims, it will stir up quite a bit of emotion and bring back a lot of pain.”

Confessed killer Anders Breivik returned to the Norwegian youth camp where he killed 69 people to reenact his bloodbath for police. NBC’s Michelle Kosinski reports.

That appears to be the aim of Breivik, who is scheduled to testify for about a week, starting on Tuesday.

“Your arrest will mark the initiation of the propaganda phase,” he wrote in a manual for future attackers, part of a 1,500-page manifesto he posted online, according to Reuters. “Your trial offers you a stage to the world.”

In a recent letter seen by Norwegian newspaper VG, Breivik added: “The court case looks like it will be a circus … it is an absolutely unique opportunity to explain the idea of (the manifesto) to the world.”

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The nation looks to rally after a bombing and shooting spree leaves 77 people dead.

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