Anders Breivik Claims Self Defense For Killing 77 In Norway Massacre. Really.

The trial of Anders Breivik has begun. Here is the self defense argument taken to its absurdist conclusion: self defense against Muslims taking over white nations. He appears to have modified Hitler's salute by closing his fist instead.

With a defiant closed-fist salute, a right-wing fanatic admitted Monday to a bomb-and-shooting massacre that killed 77 people in Norway but pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, saying he was acting in self-defense.

On the first day of his long-awaited trial, Anders Behring Breivik rejected the authority of the court as it sought to assign responsibility for the July 22 attacks that shocked Norway and jolted the image of terrorism in Europe.

Eight people were killed in Breivik's bombing of Oslo's government district and 69 were slain in his shooting massacre at the left-leaning Labor Party's youth camp on Utoya island outside the capital. Breivik has said the attacks were necessary to protect Norway from being taken over by Muslims.

"I admit to the acts, but not criminal guilt," he told the court, insisting he had acted in self-defense.

And he does not recognize the authority of the Norwegian government or courts.

I don't recognize Norwegian courts because you get your mandate from the Norwegian political parties who support multiculturalism," Breivik said in his first comments to the court.

The key issue to be resolved during the 10-week trial is the state of Breivik's mental health, which will decide whether he is sent to prison or into psychiatric care. Anxious to prove he is not insane, Breivik will call right-wing extremists and radical Islamists to testify during the trial, to show that others also share his view of clashing civilizations.

Breivik also announced he doesn't recognize the authority of Judge Wenche Elisabeth Arntzen, because he said she is friends with the sister of former Norwegian Prime Minister and Labor Party leader Gro Harlem Brundtland.

The anti-Muslim militant described himself as a writer, currently working from prison, when asked by the judge for his employment status.

He claims he targeted the government headquarters in Oslo and the youth camp to strike against the left-leaning political forces he blames for allowing immigration in Norway.

If deemed mentally competent, Breivik would face a maximum prison sentence of 21 years or an alternate custody arrangement under which the sentence is prolonged for as long as an inmate is deemed a danger to society.

Breivik wants to be judged as a sane person and will call radical Islamists, and extremists on the right and left to testify to support "his perception that there is a war going on in Europe," his defense lawyer, Geir Lippestad, told the court. Lippestad said Breivik wants to read a new document he's written at the start of his testimony on Tuesday.

Norwegian authorities are trying to prevent Breivik from using the trial to further his propaganda. And, the self defense claim appears to have little validity in Norway's legal system.

The Norwegian authorities are trying to prevent Breivik from using his trial as a platform for his propaganda, which is one of the tenets of the thinking used by this type of terrorist. And the selfdefense argument seems to have little hope of succeeding according to Norway's laws. Thankfully.

Police sealed off the streets around the Oslo court building, where journalists, survivors and relatives of victims watched the proceedings Monday in a 200-seat courtroom built specifically for this trial.

Thick glass partitions were put up to separate the defendant from victims and their families, many of whom are worried that Breivik will use the trial to promote his extremist political ideology. In a manifesto he published online before the attacks, Breivik wrote that "patriotic resistance fighters" should use trials "as a platform to further our cause."

While Norway has a legal principle of preventive self-defense, that doesn't apply to Breivik's case, said Jarl Borgvin Doerre, a legal expert who has written a book on the concept. "It is obvious that it has nothing to do with preventive self-defense," Doerre told The Associated Press.

The face of evil?

Please see nominalize's link to discussion of Breivik's sanity vs. 'simply' evil, and whether he can be imprisoned as a result.