Breiivik is set to testify for five days and explain his motives behind his terror attacks last year in downtown Oslo and at a Labor Party youth camp on Utoya Island, outside the capital.
The first day of the trial is expected to focus mainly on a run-through of the charges and the technicalities of the trial as well as on Breivik’s plea.
Though he has confessed to the bloody attacks, he is going to plead not guilty, arguing that he slaughtered his victims in order to ‘protect the Norwegian nation.’
The terrorist has also told his lawyers that he won’t apologize for what he did and that he does not regret the terror effort, asking his defense team to publicize the attitude.
“He is not going to apologize for what he did and he says he does not regret and he also has asked us as his defense lawyers, to communicate that, even though it is, of course, very hard to hear,” said Vibeke Hein Baera, a member of the four-man legal team representing Brevik.
The ten-week trial will focus on his mental health condition and whether he is criminally sane and responsible for the massacre.
If found sane, Breivik faces a maximum sentence of 21 years in jail. However, sentences can be prolonged indefinitely for inmates deemed to pose a danger to Norwegian society. Similar rules apply in psychiatric care.
AO/MFB/HJL
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