Oslo: Confessed mass killer Anders Behring
Breivik was ordered to remain in pretrial detention for eight
weeks on Tuesday during a closed court hearing in which he was cut
off from making statements irrelevant to the case, a judge
said.
The 32-year-old right-wing extremist has confessed to
setting off a bomb in downtown Oslo and massacring dozens at
an island youth camp outside the city, killing 77 people on
July 22.
The Oslo District Court approved a police request to keep
Breivik in custody on terror charges for another eight weeks
four of them in solitary confinement as they prepare a formal
indictment.
Breivik appeared at the hearing calm and composed,
dressed in a black suit and with his feet shackled, police
prosecutor Christian Hatlo said.
Judge Anne Margrethe Lund said she stopped Breivik "on a
few occasions" when he tried to make statements during the
court hearing, his third since being arrested following the
carnage on Utoya island.
"He wanted to communicate something to the court. It
wasn`t relevant for the decision that was to be made today and
therefore he wasn`t allowed to say anything further," Lund
told reporters after the hearing.
Breivik`s defence lawyer Geir Lippestad also told
reporters that his client tried to address the court but
declined to give details, citing a gag order.
The ruling means police can continue to hold Breivik in
custody until November 14 when a new detention hearing will be
held.
But they can only hold him in isolation until October 17
because decisions on solitary confinement must be reviewed
every four weeks.
Breivik told the court he considers solitary confinement
as "a form of torture," Lund said.
But the court found that "complete isolation is
necessary" to keep him from interfering with the investigation
by destroying evidence or contacting possible accomplices, she
added.
The 32-year-old has claimed to be a member of the Knights
Templar a network of modern-day crusaders that would launch a
revolution against a Europe spoiled by Muslim immigration.
Investigators have found no indication that Breivik had
accomplices, but can`t rule it out as he refuses to discuss
the issue during interrogations, Hatlo said.
Bureau Report
