Related News
Norway mass killer ruled insane, may avoid jail
Source: Agencies |
November 30, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CONFESSED mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was insane when he killed 77 people in a bomb and shooting rampage in Norway, and should be sent to a psychiatric ward instead of prison, prosecutors said yesterday.
A psychiatric evaluation ordered by an Oslo court found that the self-styled anti-Muslim resistance fighter was psychotic during the July 22 attacks, the country's worst peacetime massacre - which means he's not mentally fit to be sentenced to prison, prosecutors told reporters.
The report, written by two psychiatrists who spent a total of 36 hours talking to Breivik, will be reviewed by a panel of forensic psychiatrists before the court makes a ruling on whether Breivik is legally insane.
Their conclusions contrasted with earlier comments by the head of that board, who said in July that it was unlikely that Breivik would be declared legally insane because the attacks were so carefully planned and executed.
"The conclusions of the forensic experts is that Anders Behring Breivik was insane," prosecutor Svein Holden said, in Oslo adding Breivik was in a state of psychosis during the attacks.
In Norway, an insanity defense requires that a defendant be in a state of psychosis while committing the crime with which he or she is charged. That means the defendant has lost contact with reality to the point that he's no longer in control of his own actions.
The 243-page report will be reviewed by a Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine panel.
Breivik has confessed to carrying out the attacks but denies criminal guilt, saying he's a commander of a Norwegian resistance movement opposed to multiculturalism.
Investigators have found no sign of such a movement and say Breivik most likely plotted and carried out the attacks on his own.
A psychiatric evaluation ordered by an Oslo court found that the self-styled anti-Muslim resistance fighter was psychotic during the July 22 attacks, the country's worst peacetime massacre - which means he's not mentally fit to be sentenced to prison, prosecutors told reporters.
The report, written by two psychiatrists who spent a total of 36 hours talking to Breivik, will be reviewed by a panel of forensic psychiatrists before the court makes a ruling on whether Breivik is legally insane.
Their conclusions contrasted with earlier comments by the head of that board, who said in July that it was unlikely that Breivik would be declared legally insane because the attacks were so carefully planned and executed.
"The conclusions of the forensic experts is that Anders Behring Breivik was insane," prosecutor Svein Holden said, in Oslo adding Breivik was in a state of psychosis during the attacks.
In Norway, an insanity defense requires that a defendant be in a state of psychosis while committing the crime with which he or she is charged. That means the defendant has lost contact with reality to the point that he's no longer in control of his own actions.
The 243-page report will be reviewed by a Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine panel.
Breivik has confessed to carrying out the attacks but denies criminal guilt, saying he's a commander of a Norwegian resistance movement opposed to multiculturalism.
Investigators have found no sign of such a movement and say Breivik most likely plotted and carried out the attacks on his own.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
