Norway massacre killer to appear behind closed doors
Source: TOI
OSLO: A Norwegian appeals court decided Thursday that the
self-confessed killer of 77 people in two July 22 attacks will appear
behind closed doors in his court appearance next week.
The decision overturned a lower court ruling earlier this week which said Anders Behring Breivik, 32, could appear in public for the first time.
"Borgarting appeal court has just decided that the court meeting on Monday ... will be held behind closed doors," it said in a statement, adding that a press conference would be held after the hearing.
A lower Oslo court said Monday it did not see how the suspect's presence in public would "complicate the case by divulging elements that would harm the inquiry."
But police, who have previously asked for closed hearings out of concern that Behring Breivik might try to communicate with any possible accomplices, had appealed the decision.
The September 19 hearing is aimed at extending the killer's custody, and deciding whether to keep him in solitary confinement.
The 32-year-old Norwegian has admitted killing 77 people in twin attacks on July 22, first setting off a bomb at the Labour government offices and then carrying out a shooting massacre at a Labour youth summer camp on an island near Oslo.
In a manifesto he published on the Internet just before the attacks, Behring Breivik professed his hatred for Western-style democracy, saying it had spawned the multicultural society he loathed.
The decision overturned a lower court ruling earlier this week which said Anders Behring Breivik, 32, could appear in public for the first time.
"Borgarting appeal court has just decided that the court meeting on Monday ... will be held behind closed doors," it said in a statement, adding that a press conference would be held after the hearing.
A lower Oslo court said Monday it did not see how the suspect's presence in public would "complicate the case by divulging elements that would harm the inquiry."
But police, who have previously asked for closed hearings out of concern that Behring Breivik might try to communicate with any possible accomplices, had appealed the decision.
The September 19 hearing is aimed at extending the killer's custody, and deciding whether to keep him in solitary confinement.
The 32-year-old Norwegian has admitted killing 77 people in twin attacks on July 22, first setting off a bomb at the Labour government offices and then carrying out a shooting massacre at a Labour youth summer camp on an island near Oslo.
In a manifesto he published on the Internet just before the attacks, Behring Breivik professed his hatred for Western-style democracy, saying it had spawned the multicultural society he loathed.
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