Thaindian News

Oslo, Nov 14 (IANS) There was no reason to believe that mass murder suspect Anders Behring Breivik, who allegedly massacred 77 people in Oslo in July, was insane, the judge hearing his case said Monday. Breivik has pleaded not guilty to the murders.

Breivik is accused of a bomb attack in Oslo followed by a shooting rampage on nearby Utoya island. Eight people were killed in the bombing while 69 young people were killed on Utoya.

District court judge Torkjel Nesheim Monday said there was also no evidence Breivik had accomplices in the bomb and gun rampage, CNN reported.

The judge ordered Breivik to be held in custody for 12 more weeks. Visits and correspondence would be controlled by the authorities for the first eight weeks, and the media has been banned for the first four.

More than 500 people packed into the court in Oslo to see the suspect’s first public appearance, said Irene Ramm, head of press for the court.

A woman whose daughter was killed in the massacre said she could not understand “how a human being could do something like that”.

“That’s why I had to be here today. I don’t understand, so I had to see, had to be here,” she said.

Breivik was not allowed to deliver a speech he had prepared, a local media report said.

He told the court he did not recognise its authority on the grounds that he opposes the multi-cultural society it is part of, TV2 reported.

Breivik was stopped on several occasions when he started referring to himself as “Commander of the Knights Templar”.

Until now, the proceedings have been held behind closed doors. But Monday, the victims’ families were able to see Breivik as he was brought to the court with his hands and feet cuffed, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation reported.