Norway Shooter's Lawyer Calls His Client 'Insane'

AP
John Hudson 733 Views Jul 26, 2011

The defense lawyer for the Norway gunman who killed at least 76 people in Oslo and the island Utøya Friday said his client appears to be insane, reports The New York Times. "This whole case has indicated he's insane," Geir Lippestat (pictured above) said of 32-year-old Anders Breivik at a press conference. Lippestat declined to say if his client would plead insanity when the case comes to trial but added more details about his condition and state of mind. "He is sorry he had to do this but it was necessary to start a start revolution in [the] Western world," he said of Breivik, whose written works have revealed a man with a deep-seated hatred toward Islam and socialism. “He has a view of reality that is very difficult to explain. He says that the rest of the world doesn’t understand his point of view, but in 60 years time, they’ll understand him.” The lawyer also revealed that his client Breivik is "part of an anti-Islam network that has two groups in Norway and several more abroad, although he refuses to give police any information about them," reports MSNBC. "Researchers doubt Breivik's claim that he is part of a wider far-right network of anti-Islam 'crusaders,' seeing them as empty bragging by a psychopathic fantasist who has written that exaggeration is a way to sow confusion among investigators."

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