• Breivik being questioned by prosecution
• Says inspired by Serb nationalists, not Nazis
• Claims to have met Serb 'war criminal' in Liberia
• Insists Knights Templar group was real
• Accuses prosecutor of ridiculing him
Read the latest Guardian news report on proceedings
Breivik said he considered his chances of surviving the bomb attack on the government quarter at less than 5% but says that not only did he survive that but also the killing spree on Utøya.
When arrested, Breivik warned that there were two other terror cells in Norway who would attack and kill 300 people. Today he said...
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
The prosecutor asked if these two cells could "attack Norway any day", and Breivik said: "Yes, they can."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik says he should either be aquitted or executed, describing the maximum jail term as "pathetic".
Beivik: "There are only two just and fair outcomes of this case. One is an acquittal, the other is capital punishment."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik: ""I consider 21 years of prison as a pathetic punishment."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik says he didn't want to be executed "but would have respected it".
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik asked if he looked forward to this trial. He said: "No, I have dreaded it."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik has talked more about his religious beliefs (yesterday he said he was attracted to Catholicism), expressing his belief in an afterlife and how that made him not fear the consequences of his actions on 22 July last year.
Breivik: what links militant Islamists and militant nationalists is "a belief in the afterlife" because "we [MNs] are Christians"
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik: "In some ways I am a militant Christian."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
#Breivik"If I feared death, I would not have dared do what I did at Utoya".
— Lars Bevanger (@lbevanger) April 18, 2012
#Breivik: "If I were to glorify martyrdom, which is to be prepared to die for your cause, then you would become 10x as potent as someone who
— Paul Brennan (@paulrbrennan) April 18, 2012
#Breivik: "..fears death."
— Paul Brennan (@paulrbrennan) April 18, 2012
The trial has resumed. Breivik is praising al-Qaida once more, as he did yesterday.
Breivik describes Al-Qaida as "methodological role models" for militant nationalists.
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
The court has adjourned for a 20 minute break.
Breivik has been caught out contradicting himself once more.
#Breivik 2nd prosecutor: 'you said you were a cell commander when you came back from London.' #Breivik: "Did I say that? No, not correct".
— Paul Brennan (@paulrbrennan) April 18, 2012
Breivik smiles broadly when prosecutor points out discrepancies in his evidence over the definition of a "cell commander".
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Asked whether he had contact with the Knights Templar after the 2002 meeting he says he attended in London, Breveik says:
There has been contact but I don't wish to talk about it.
Breivik: " The Knights Templar network is leaderless network, it's made for you to be an independent self driven cell."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
But then he responds to a question about a follow-up meeting.
He's asked now about a follow-up meeting in the Baltics at which 25-30 people attend, acc the manifesto. Yes, that's correct. #Breivik
— Jonah Hull (@jonahhull) April 18, 2012
It was not stereotype right wing meeting of underprivileged, short tempered racist skinheads. #Breivik
— Jonah Hull (@jonahhull) April 18, 2012
The prosecutor is asking Breivik why he bought diamond paraphernalia after returning from Liberia and suggesting it undermines his story that he travelled to Liberia to meet a Serb nationalist.
After returning from Liberia, Breivik continued buyingdiamond paraphernalia - despite insisting quest for blood diamonds was a "cover".
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Court is casting doubt on Breivik's claim to have visited Liberia in 2002 to visit a Serbian warlord.
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik takes aim once more at the press.
'If Norwegian press had stopped their campaign journalism, 22 July would probably not have happened'. #Breivik
— Lars Bevanger (@lbevanger) April 18, 2012
He accused the press yesterday of calling people who stood up to Muslims racist. He also said that he had tried, unsuccessfully, to target a national journalists' conference in Norway, which he considered " a more legitimate target than Utøya".
The prosecution has moved onto the period when Breivik returned to Norway after his 2002 trip to London.
Why, after the London meeting, did you stay with politics and the Progress Party in Norway? #Breivik
— Jonah Hull (@jonahhull) April 18, 2012
I wanted to see how far I cld go. I have always had a hope the situation (re democracy, government and press) would change. #Breivik
— Jonah Hull (@jonahhull) April 18, 2012
Breivik is still refusing to answer a number of questions put to him by the prosecution.
Breivik: "It's not in my interest to elucidate the London &Liberia trips." Refuses to say why he transferred 1000s of $ to Liberia on return
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Proceedings have resumed after lunch.
Breivik says that when he returned home from London he "decided that I would try to make 30m kroner before I turned 30" to form an "NGO"
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Helen Pidd, in Oslo, has filed a summary of this morning's proceedings. I will post a link when the story is up on the guardian website but here is an excerpt:
Anders Behring Breivik's attacks on Norway last summer were inspired by "Serb nationalists", he told a court today, as he attempted to distance himself from the "old school" of "rightwing extremism" propagated by the Nazis.
Giving evidence for a second day in his trial, the 33-year-old was questioned about the philosophy behind his deadly acts and the Knights Templar (KT) network of anti-Islamists he claims to have co-founded in London in 2002.
"As regards the identity [of KT[," he said, "the essence was to try to distance oneself sufficiently from national socialism because it was quite blood stained. We felt it completely essential to do so. For the extreme right to be ever be able to prevail in Europe in the future, one had to distance oneself from the old school ideology. One would chose a new identity."
He added that this identity "was, in a way, imported from Serbia." The Serbs who fought and died during the Nato bombing of Kosovo in 1999 had a "crusader" mentality to which he aspired, he said.
Questioned about his path to radicalisation, he said that the Serbian bombing was to "militant nationalists" such as himself "the straw that broke the camel's back."
Prosecutors have said they believe the "Knights Templar" do not exist "in the way he describes it." Breivik insists it does, and said police just hadn't done a good enough job in uncovering it.
"It is not in my interest to shed light on details that could lead to arrests," he said.
AP has details of the exchange between the prosecutor and Breivik over whether the Knights Templar meeting actually took place.
Breivik refused to give details on what he claims was the founding session of the "Knights Templar" in London in 2002.
He conceded, however, that he embellished somewhat in the manifesto when he described the other three members at the founding session as "brilliant political and military tacticians of Europe." Breivik testified that he had used "pompous" language and described them instead as "four people with great integrity."
Bejer Engh challenged him on whether the meeting had taken place at all.
"Yes, there was a meeting in London," Breivik insisted.
"It's not something you have made up?" Engh countered.
"I haven't made up anything. What is in the compendium is correct," he said.
Later, he answered with more nuance.
"There is nothing that is made up, but you have to see what is written in a context. It is a glorification of certain ideals," Breivik said.
The court has now adjourned for lunch.
Breivik says that "legitimacy is achieved through action", making the distinction between "keyboard generals" and those who put their ideas into practice.
Breivik says he could be considered a "role model" for other "militant nationalists" after last year's attacks on 22/7
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Says "keyboard warriors" can't be role models "because it's difficult to promote martyrdom when you fear death yourself"
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik: "There are lots of keyboard warriors out there, also called sofa generals, but more often than not they have serious problems...
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik: "... winning ground with their views because they were only keyboard warriors." Credibility achieved thru "an action, an operation"
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik says he and the Knights Templar were influenced by Serb nationalists rather than Nazis.
Breivik says, at their inaugral meeting the Knights Templar needed to distance itself from the Nazis.
Breivik said the inaugral Knights Templar meeting In London agreed need to "distance oneself sufficiently from national socialism..."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik: need to distance new militant nationalism from Nazis "because it was quite blood stenched." Maybe stained better translation?
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik: "For the extreme right to ever be able to prevail in Europe in the future one had to distance oneself from the old school ideology"
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik describes Richard as a "perfect knight".
He then reveals his own "codename".
Breivik says he chose the codename Sigurd after the 12th century Norwegian king - "perhaps the most important leader Norway has ever had"
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik is asked about the English mentor named "Richard", who he told police about.
Breivik also said in his manifesto he met a "mentor" who used the pseudonym Richard – after Richard the Lionheart - at the founding meeting of the Knights Templar Europe "military order" in London in 2002.
Shortly after the 22 July massacre, a rightwing blogger who is a member of an anti-Muslim group with a similar name to the one Breivik claimed to belong to denied meeting the Norwegian gunman.
Paul Ray, who writes a blog under the name Lionheart, said he belonged to an anti-Muslim group called The Ancient Order of the Templar Knights but denied ever meeting Breivik and said he was horrified by the killngs. In a telephone interview with Associated Press, Ray said he was not at the 2002 London meeting that Breivik described in his manifesto.
But Ray did say that it appeared Breivik had drawn inspiration from some of his ideas and writings.
It's really pointing at us. All these things he's been talking about are linked to us. It's like he's created this whole thing around us.
Once more Breivik uses that word "pompous" to describe his manifesto but insists the content is all factually accurate. He says the manifesto was "selling dreams".
Breivik says his manifesto was a "sales tool...we are selling dreams. That's what it is to sell an ideology if you wish you inspire others."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
The prosecutor is referring to what Breivik wrote about his visit to London in his manifesto.
Breivik now says that the Serb was not in London, despite writing in his manifesto that he was.
Breivik refuses to elaborate on claims in his manifesto of the "English protestant host" in London who became his "mentor".
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
#Breivik:court now looking at Breivik's manifesto s.968, which details the 'founding session' apparently held in London in April 2002.
— Paul Brennan (@paulrbrennan) April 18, 2012
I met 3 persons in London + the Serb in Liberia. #Breivik
— Trygve Sorvaag (@TrygveSorvaag) April 18, 2012
Prosecutor points out #Breivik told police the Serb was in London, yet he now insists the Serb was not there. Another contradiction (lie?)
— Jonah Hull (@jonahhull) April 18, 2012
Was there a meeting in London. Yes! So you haven't made it up. No! I haven't made anything up. #Breivik
— Jonah Hull (@jonahhull) April 18, 2012
Breivik is asked a series of questions relating to his visit to London in 2002 which he refuses to answer.
Breivik doesn't look ruffled. Cheeks slightly flushed, but seems to be enjoying frustrating the prosecution, who ask "why are you smiling?"
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
More frustration expressed by Breivik as he tells the prosecution.
Don't ridicule me.
Questioning has resumed but once more Breivik is challenging the line of questioning.
Grumpy Breivik tells prosecutor: "You have chosen a de-legitimisation strategy to strip me of credibility."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
#Breivik says he doesn't want to comment any more on Liberia. Tells prosec to refer to police ivws. "i won't make this easier for you."
— Jonah Hull (@jonahhull) April 18, 2012
Bereaved families and victims not wanting to be interviewed are wearing stickers stating the fact.
Families and victims not wanting to be interviewed are wearing stickers "no interviws please". #Breivik twitter.com/TrygveSorvaag/…
— Trygve Sorvaag (@TrygveSorvaag) April 18, 2012
Helen Pidd sends this summary of today's opening session from Oslo:
Breivik seems in a more belligerent mood today, refusing to answer the prosecution's questions or taking an age to do so. The way the court deals with his behaviour is especially interesting for a British journalist used to covering trials at the Old Bailey or other crown courts in the UK. Back home, barristers tend to showboat, using elaborate language in an attempt to outwit a defendant. Should the accused dare to throw a question back during cross examination, he or she is quickly told to step into line.
But not in Norway. This morning, the prosecutors are trying to tease out from Breivik why he made a trip to Liberia in the spring of 2002. They know he went there because they have seen the genuine stamps in his passport. But they want him to explain why - he has repeatedly says he has no wish to play ball. The reason, he says, is that he does not want to say anything that could lead to anyone else's arrest.
Yet in 1,100 pages of police interviews, Breivik has already opened up about his Liberian adventure, and the prosecutors want him to elaborate for the benefit of the five judges, who have not read the police transcripts. "I do not wish to comment on Liberia. You'll have to skip it," said Breivik at one point. Inga Bejer Engh, the prosecutor leading today, held her cool, saying she couldn't skip it and would have to read from the police transcript. "Fine," said
Breivik. "Read it, then."Breivik also told berated Engh and the police for "not following up leads" relating to 8,000 Facebook contacts to whom he sent his manifesto and the Serb war criminal he claims to have met in Liberia.
The court has now adjourned for 20 minutes.
Breivik says he told his friends he was going to Liberia but not the reason for doing so. Asked why he told them he was going to Liberia instead of making up a more conventional destination, he claimed he does not like lying.
Breivik: "It's difficult to tell lies. I'm a person that doesn't like to lie. I've only told lies in very extreme cases."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik seems a lot less comfortable with the prosecutor's questions this morning and has been warned that if he doesn't answer that may be used against him.
Prosecutor to Breivik: "The fact you choose to remain silent may be used against you." He won't answer q's about Liberia.
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
How persausive a threat that is given that he has admitted the killings and it is just his sanity that is to be established is questionable. But he does give some more details about Liberia nonetheless.
Breivik claims his "cover" story for entering Liberia was to meet militants was that "i had a bleeding heart and was working for UNICEF."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik's second Liberian cover story was that "I was smuggling blood diamonds."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
The prosecutor has confirmed, from the accused's passport, that Breivik went to Liberia, which leads the defendant to mock the first psychiatrist who concluded that he was insane.
Breivik "Isn't that quite remarkable that I was actually in Liberia? So it's not true that this was a psychotic fantasy." Adamant he is sane
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik is making derogatory comments about women, suggesting most don't have the comprehension or "backbone" to be a "revolutionary activist".
Breivik says "anyone" could follow his example by reading his compendium. Except women. "Maybe not women - 1 in 10 women perhaps."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik: "If you look at revolutionary activists in the world, only one in 10 is a woman." Plus, terrorists need a "backbone"
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik: to be like me "you must be born with a backbone,. Not everyone is born with a backbone; of course you can develop one."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik is unhappy at the line of questioning in court today. He feels like he is being ridiculed and there is an attempt to expose him as a liar.
Your purpose is to cast doubt on the existence of this network. Isn't that right? #Breivik. Prosecutor says she just wants to shed light.
— Jonah Hull (@jonahhull) April 18, 2012
#Breivik: "You are trying to ridicule me"
— Paul Brennan (@paulrbrennan) April 18, 2012
#Breivik "Let us jump over this and go to conclusion. Police do not beleive I met anyone in Serbia"
— Trygve Sorvaag (@TrygveSorvaag) April 18, 2012
While Breivik refuses to name the Serb nationalist he claims to have met in Liberia, Norwegian police believe he is referring to Milorad Ulemek. However, police are not sure whether the pair actually met, as Breivik claims, and Ulemek's lawyer claims they have not.
Ulemek's lawyer told the Norwegian broadcasting corporation, NRK, that his client had never met Breivik (Norwegian link):
When Ulemek first heard about this, he just laughed, said [Aleksander] Zorica of the alleged contact between Anders Breivik Behring and his client.
Asked by NRK whether Ulemek and Breivik have met, Ulemek's lawyer responded that the two have never met.
Zorica said to NRK that Ulemek had never heard of the organization Knights Templar, to which Breivik refers.
The prosecution refers to claims by the defendant to have met Serb nationalists, contained in Breivik's manifesto "2083 - A declaration of European independence". The claim is contained in the section about meetings with militant nationalists with whom he formed the Knights Templar (which the prosecution said in its opening statement "does not exist".
The accused describes the language in the manifesto as "pompous", an adjective he used a number of times yesterday without quite explaining what he meant.
He says he attended a training camp after being screened.
#Breivik manifesto says "I remember they did a complete screening and background check to ensure I was of the desired caliber."
— Matthew Price (@matthewwprice) April 18, 2012
#Breivik manifesto: "According to one of them, they were considering several hundred individuals throughout Europe for a training course."
— Paul Brennan (@paulrbrennan) April 18, 2012
Breivik claims he attended a Liberian training course in "revolutionary knowledge.. Rhetorical strategies, propaganda, production of bombs"
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
This Serb nationalist he claims he met in Liberia was wanted for war crimes, says Breivik.
Breivik claims this Serbian militant nationalist in Liberia was wanted for "war crimes", for "defending his country...against Muslims."
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik is talking about police surveillance.
Breivik says he avoided contact with "other Norwegian nationalists" for fear of ending up on a police/secret service surveillance list
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
He claims he travelled to Liberia to meet a Serb nationalist but refuses to name him.
Breivik says he went to Liberia in 2001 to meet a "militant nationalist" from Serbia. Refuses to name him for fear he will be arrested.
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) April 18, 2012
Breivik has arrived back in court, once more making a clenched-fist salute.
Before moving onto today, Helen Pidd responds to a question raised by some readers with respect to yesterday's proceedings:
Some on Twitter this morning have queried an assertion I made in my main story on Tuesday in which I wrote that Breivik never "fully articulated" the threat on which he was so fixated.I think I could have explained that better. He did articulate the many threats he saw posed by "cultural marxists" who he claimed had destroyed Norway by using it as "a dumping ground for the surplus births of the third world." He went on and on about what he sees as the dangers posed by Muslims, and how they were trying to take over western Europe.
But what made Tuesday such an arduous day in court was not just the hateful nature of his testimony, but the fact that so much of it was completely contradictory.
Not only does Breivik claim that he had copied al-Qaida's strategies in order to protect the west from the Islamist threat, but he also insisted that his goal (in the short to medium term) was to make pariahs of Europe's nationalists – the very people with whom you might expect him to feel kinship.
"I thought I had to provoke a witchhunt of modern moderately conservative nationalists," he said. Then he claimed that this curious strategy had already borne fruit, citing the example of Norway's prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, who he said had given a speech since the attacks saying that critics of immigration were wrong.
The effect of this "witchhunt", said Breivik, would be to increase "censorship" of moderately nationalist views, which would "increase polarisation". The effect of this, he said, would eventually lead to "more radicalisation as more will lose hope and lose faith in democracy". Ultimately, he said, these new radicals would join the war he has started to protect the "indigenous people" of Norway and western Europe.
He said this logic was understood by very few, and that he had received letters from Norwegian and European nationalists saying "what are you doing?! We are getting no support as a result of this." He added: "I don't expect anybody to understand this... the only ones who understand this are themselves ultra-nationalists."
Good morning. Welcome to live coverage of day three of the trial of Anders Behring Breivik.
The defendent made a lengthy opening statement yesterday in which he said he "would have done it again".
The prosecution then began questioning him, which will continue today. Once again, the TV cameras are not allowed to film but Helen Pidd is in court for the Guardian and will be filing updates.
Here is a link to yesterday's blog.
And here is a link to the news story from today's Guardian.