Breivik trial: man sets himself on fire outside court

A MENTALLY-ILL man has set himself on fire outside the court where right-wing extremist Anders Breivik is being tried for the bombing and shooting massacre that killed 77 people.

Police said the man did not appear to have any connections to the case, which has been under way since mid-April in the Oslo District Court.

Before the incident, the man had stopped by the office of Norwegian lawyer Bente Roli, where he dropped off an envelope with “confused” notes.

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“He was disturbed. Very much. He has nothing to do with the 22 July events,” she said.

A video clip of the incident posted on Norwegian newspaper VG’s website showed the man setting himself on fire before stunned witnesses. He walked up to police with flames shooting up from his jumper and hat, and appeared to yell “shoot me, it hurts” in a Scandinavian language with a foreign accent.

He then ran towards the security checkpoint outside the court, but turned away just before the entrance and slumped to the footpath. The man shouted in pain as police rushed up and tore off his burning jumper.

“There were police officers on site and the fire was put out quickly,” police operations leader Finn Belle said.

Ms Roli said she was not in the office when the man came in but her secretary met him.

“He was psychologically unstable and thought he was the victim of a conspiracy,” she said. “He thought everyone was after him because of the social problems he has.”

The man was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Breivik has admitted to setting off a car bomb outside the government headquarters in Oslo and then killing 69 people in a rampage at the Labor Party’s annual youth camp. The self-styled anti-Muslim militant has shown no remorse for the attacks.

Inside the court, an Iraqi man whose brother was killed in the massacre threw a shoe at Breivik on Friday, hitting a defence lawyer.

The trial is scheduled to run until the end of next month.

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