Anders Behring Breivik could avoid jail as experts rule killer insane

Prosecutors yesterday said a report on the self-declared anti-Muslim militant revealed he believes he staged the “executions” from love for “his people”.

Breivik, 32, slaughtered 77 people in July, setting off a bomb in central Oslo before gunning down dozens of people, mostly teenagers, at an island camp run by the ruling Labour Party’s youth wing.

“The conclusion … is that he is insane,” prosecutor Svein Holden told a news conference. “He lives in his own delusional universe and his thoughts and acts are governed by this universe.”

Norway upholds a tradition of rehabilitative, rather than punitive, justice. However, one politician attacked the finding as “incomprehensible”.

The country does not have a death penalty and the maximum jail sentence is 21 years.

If the court accepts the report’s conclusions, Breivik would be held in a mental health institution rather than prison. Norwegian courts can challenge psychiatric evaluations or order new tests but rarely reject them.

Breivik could be held as long as he poses a threat to society but may be released if found to have responded to treatment.

One survivor of his shooting rampage on Utoeya island said the public had to be protected from Breivik.

“The most important thing for me is not to punish Breivik,” Bjoern Ihler, 20, said. “What matters to me is that he no longer poses a threat to society.”

Others disagreed. “This is completely incomprehensible,” said Per Sandberg, the deputy leader of the populist Progress Party, an opposition group which demands tougher sentences. “How can someone who has planned this for such a long time… be considered insane?” he said.

Mr Sandberg, who heads parliament’s justice committee, called for a wider evaluation of Breivik’s mental status.

Breivik had paranoid schizophrenia and was psychotic at the time of the attacks, Mr Holden said, adding that his condition had persisted.

In their report, the psychiatrists described many different forms of “bizarre delusions”.

“They especially describe what they call Breivik’s delusions where he sees himself as chosen to decide who shall live and who shall die, and that he is chosen to save what he calls his people,” said Mr Holden.

“Breivik has stated that he committed the murders, or executions as he calls them, because of his love for his people,” he added.

In a manifesto posted on the internet shortly before his killing spree on 22 July, Breivik declared he wanted to protect Norway from the “threat of Muslim immigration”.

He could be freed if declared to have regained his mental health. “If he is not psychotic and does not pose a danger to society, then his sentence cannot be upheld,” prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh told the press. If the court accepts the psychiatric evaluation, Breivik would still be put on trial but could not be jailed.

During his 13 conversations with two mental health experts, which lasted about 36 hours, Breivik called himself the “most perfect knight” to live after the Second World War. He also claimed his Knights Templar group would take over and put himself forward as the future regent of Norway and Europe.

“The experts also describe Breivik’s intentions to conduct breeding projects with Norwegians and organise them in reserves,” said Mr Holden.

Breivik is being held in isolation in jail. He has said he does not consider himself insane, though his lawyer thinks he is.

“I don’t think he [Breivik] will be surprised by the report,” said his lawyer, Geir Lippestad.