Anders Breivik, the Norwegian gunman who killed 77 and injured 151 in July was 鈥渋nsane鈥� when he carried out the attacks, forensic psychiatrists have concluded in a 236-page report to the court in Oslo which will decide Breivik鈥檚 fate, according to on 29 November.
If the verdict is backed by the and subsequently accepted by the , then Breivik will escape criminal accountability for his actions, avoid facing trial and be committed to compulsory psychiatric care, possibly for life. If not, Breivik is due to stand trial on 16 April 2012.
Svein Holden, Norway鈥檚 chief prosecutor, that according to the psychiatrists鈥� report, Breivik has suffered for years from paranoid schizophrenia and was 鈥減sychotic鈥� when he carried out the killings.
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鈥淭he conclusion of the forensic experts is that Anders Behring Breivik was insane,鈥� Svein is quoted as saying. He says that the psychiatrists describe a man 鈥渨ho finds himself in his own delusional universe, where all his thoughts and acts are governed by these delusions鈥�.
Guilt denied
On 22 July, Breivik disguised himself as a policeman and planted a car bomb in Oslo that killed eight people. Then he drove and caught a ferry to the island of Utoya where, still in uniform, he killed a further 69 people, mostly young people attending a summer youth camp held by Norway鈥檚 governing Labour Party.
After more than an hour, he gave himself up to police arriving at the scene and admitted to the killings, but he denies criminal guilt, claiming he鈥檚 commander of a Norwegian resistance movement against multiculturalism and socialism.
Legal experts contacted by 快猫短视频 say that the crucial distinction is between medical and legal definitions of insanity. To meet the in most countries, the defendant would have to be proven to be psychotic to the point where they could no longer distinguish between legal definitions of right and wrong, and no longer appreciate the nature of their actions at the time of the offence.
Marked by Delusions
Some have challenged the idea that Breivik was insane, on the grounds that his killing spree took meticulous planning and awareness to execute.
鈥淗e clearly knew that he was going to be arrested, and he took measures to make sure he wouldn鈥檛 be caught during the killings, so he must have known it would be against the law, essentially, that it must be wrong,鈥� says , a professor of forensic mental health at King鈥檚 College London.
To declare him psychotic at the time, the Norwegian psychiatrists must have found him deluded, says Fahy. 鈥淭he big issue revolves around whether someone is psychotic, that is, whether they鈥檙e deluded or hallucinating, usually because of schizophrenia or manic depression,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t seems the psychiatrists think he was psychotic, and must have found evidence of delusions or hallucinations.鈥�
According to , the two forensic psychiatrists, Torgeir Husby and Synne Sorheim, interviewed Breivik 13 times for a total of 36 hours, and concluded he is indeed in a 鈥渦niverse marked by delusions鈥�.
Transcended reality
, a professor of psychiatry, medicine and law at Columbia University in New York, says that even though Breivik carefully planned and executed the killings, he could still have lost contact with reality to the point that he was no longer in control of his own actions. 鈥淭hat standard is not inconsistent with a carefully planned and implemented assault like the one in question,鈥� says Appelbaum. 鈥淪omeone experiencing severe delusions, believing, for example that some person or group is persecuting him, might act to retaliate against the perceived persecutor in a deliberate, planful way.鈥�
Furthermore, says Appelbaum, if such a person felt justified in acting this way against 鈥渙ppressors鈥�, he might expect afterwards to be treated as a hero, not a criminal.
鈥淚s this someone who is merely acting on a set of very odd political beliefs, or were his actions determined by delusional ideas that clearly transcend reality?鈥� asks Appelbaum. 鈥淏ased on the conclusions of the Norwegian psychiatrists who evaluated him, it appears they concluded the latter was the case.鈥�
