A second court-ordered mental evaluation of Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old right-wing Norwegian who confessed to killing 77 people in two separate terror strikes in July, has concluded that he was sane while carrying out the massacre, the court hearing his case said Tuesday.
"The experts' main conclusion is that the accused Anders Behring Breivik was not psychotic during the events on 22 July 2011. That means that he is considered criminally responsible at the time of the crime," the Oslo court said in a statement.
Last month, Norwegian prosecutors had formally charged Breivik under the country's anti-terrorism law that refers to violent acts intended to "disturb or destroy the functions of society, such as the government" and to spread "serious fear" among the population.
If convicted of the charges, Breivik faces at least 21 years in prison. Prosecutors had earlier reveled intentions to seek involuntary commitment to psychiatric care for the defendant instead of a prison sentence unless new information about his mental health emerges from the second court-ordered mental evaluation.
With the second court-ordered mental evaluation by psychiatrists Terje Toerrissen and Agnar Aspaas concluding that Breivik was legally sane while carrying out the massacre, the court now has the option of sentencing Breivik to prison instead of a psychiatric facility.
Breivik trial is expected to begin on April 16 and last about 10 weeks. The Oslo court had ordered the second mental evaluation after the findings of an earlier court-ordered evaluation contradicted with the findings of a team of experts who monitored Breivik in prison later.
In late November, two court-appointed psychiatrists, namely Torgeir Husby and Synne Soerheim, concluded that Breivik suffered from paranoid schizophrenia during and after the massacre. They spent 36 hours talking to the defendant on 13 occasions before reaching the final decision.
Nonetheless, in January, a team of three psychologists and a psychiatrist found the defendant fit for prison and insisted that he did not need psychiatric care. The team did not find him to be either psychotic nor schizophrenic. It was stressed that Breivik did not need medication and he was not at risk of attempting to commit suicide.
Earlier this month, Breivik himself had disputed the findings of the first court-ordered evaluation that he was legally insane while carrying out the massacre. In an open letter sent to the Norwegian daily "Verdens Gang" on April 4, Breivik insisted that more than 80% of his psychiatric report were wrong and described being sent to a psychiatric ward as the worst fate imaginable.
Breivik's lawyer Geir Lippestad told reporters on Tuesday that his client was pleased with the findings of the latest mental evaluation. He added that Breivik might take the stand during his trial to expresses "regret that he didn't go further." The lawyer said Breivik wanted to face trial as an extremist and be found guilty of the killings.
The development comes nearly nine months after 77 people were killed in a deadly car bombing in the Norwegian capital Oslo and a shooting rampage on Utoya Island on July 22. While eight people were killed in the car bomb attack targeting government headquarters in central Oslo, 69 others were killed in the shooting rampage on Utoya.
Breivik has since admitted to carrying out both attacks disguised as a policeman, but denied criminal responsibility and refused to enter a guilty plea. Breivik claimed at an earlier court hearing that he had carried out the twin attacks to "save Norway and Western Europe from a Muslim takeover."
Breivik also blamed Norway's ruling Labor Party of "mass imports of Muslims" and stated that the objective of the attack was to give a "sharp signal to the people" of Norway. Although Breivik claimed to a member of a secret "resistance" movement, subsequent investigations have not found any evidence to support his claim.
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