Norway killer Breivik is
'not psychotic', say experts
Experts monitoring the Norwegian killer, Anders
Behring Breivik, say they believe he is not psychotic, contradicting
court-appointed psychiatrists. A team of experts reached the conclusion after
monitoring Breivik in prison, said the public prosecutor who submitted their
report to the court. Breivik admits to twin attacks on 22 July 2011, which
killed 77 people.
The original psychiatric analysis said he was insane. The
two court-appointed psychiatrists reached this conclusion after interviewing
him on 13 occasions.
Their
report said 32 year-old Breivik lived in his "own delusional universe
where all his thoughts and acts are guided by his delusions". The expert team of four psychiatrists
assessing Breivik in prison disagreed with several of the original conclusions.
According
to the report submitted by the Public Prosecutor, Svein Holden, they do not
believe Breivik is psychotic or schizophrenic and do not think he needs drugs. In
addition they do not regard him as being at high risk of committing suicide.
'Scientific
controversy'
Breivik is due to go on
trial on terrorism charges on 16 April, regardless of whether or not he is
regarded as sane. As things stand, a guilty verdict would see him placed in
psychiatric care rather than in prison. The court is expected to decide within
the next few weeks whether or not to order a new psychiatric evaluation. Mr
Holden said he would not be calling for a new assessment, despite the
conclusions in the latest report.
A lawyer representing the
families of three of Breivik's victims, John Arild Aasen, told Norway's TV2
channel the latest assessment was very important.
"It indicates that
there is considerable scientific controversy and the necessity for further
investigations, obviously," he said.
"We are afraid that
the conversations that the experts have had with Breivik are not sufficient to
reveal his real psychiatric situation."
Asked what his clients'
thought, Mr Arild Aasen answered: "Their biggest fear is that he will be
out on the street again in a few years".
Lawyers for Anders Behring
Breivik say they are opposed to any new assessment.
"There is already a
very detailed forensic medicine evaluation of the accused," lawyer Vibeke
Hein Baera said in a letter released by the court.
Lasting impact
Breivik's
killings on 22 July were the worst act of violence Norway has seen since World
War II, and have had a profound impact there. He disguised himself as a police
officer to plant a car bomb that exploded close to government offices in the
capital Oslo, killing eight people. Still in uniform, he then drove to the
island of Utoeya, where a summer youth camp of Norway's governing Labour Party
was being held. In a shooting spree that lasted more than an hour, he killed 69
people - mostly teenagers.
Breivik
has admitted carrying out the attacks but has pleaded not guilty to the charges
he is facing. He says the attacks were atrocious but necessary for his campaign
to defend Europe against a Muslim invasion.
Source: BBC World News Online
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