Oslo, Norway (CNN) -- Anders Behring Breivik, the man who killed 77 people in a bomb attack and gun rampage just over a year ago, was judged to be sane Friday by a Norwegian court, as he was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
Breivik was charged with voluntary homicide and committing acts of terror over the attacks in Oslo and Utoya Island on July 22, 2011.
The issue of Breivik's sanity, on which mental health experts have given conflicting opinions, was central to the court's ruling. Breivik, who boasts of being an ultranationalist who killed his victims to fight multiculturalism in Norway, wanted to be ruled sane so that his actions weren't dismissed as those of a madman. He says he acted out of "necessity" to prevent the "Islamization" of his country.
But prosecutors had asked that Breivik, 33, be acquitted on the grounds of insanity, in which case he would have been held in a secure mental health unit. The unanimous verdict was delivered at Oslo district court by a panel of five judges. Breivik, dressed in a dark suit and tie, had a slight smile on his face as the decision was given.
He was sentenced to the maximum possible term of 21 years and was ordered to serve a minimum of 10 years in prison. The time he has already spent in prison counts toward the term. The sentence could be extended, potentially indefinitely, in the future if he is considered still to pose a threat to society. Norway does not have the death penalty.
Reading the court's verdict, Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen spoke of Breivik's own "manifesto," a document published online in which he set out his ultranationalist political views.
Breivik claimed to belong to a far-right group called the Knights Templar but the court found no evidence of its existence, the judge said.
He described his actions as a preemptive attack in defense of ethnic Norwegian people and culture, the court heard. Breivik trained for his attack by working out in the gym, running with a backpack filled with rocks and practicing at a shooting club, the court heard.
He was under the influence of ephedrine, a stimulant, at the time of the attacks, and the possibility that this contributed to his behavior cannot be ruled out, Judge Arne Lyng said.
He used meditation techniques to cut off his emotions, Lyng said. In the course of the 10-week trial, which wrapped up in June, the court heard chilling evidence from some of those who survived Breivik's shooting spree on Utoya Island, in which 69 people died -- most of them teenagers attending a Labour Party summer youth camp.
In his own testimony, given without emotion, Breivik recounted firing more bullets into teenagers who were injured and couldn't escape, killing those who tried to "play dead" and driving others into the sea to drown.
His fertilizer bomb attack against government buildings in Oslo also killed eight people and injured many more. It was only luck that more people were not killed and hurt in the blast, the court heard.
Breivik blamed the Labour Party in particular for promoting multiculturalism in Norway. He has been held in Ila Prison since his detention after the killings.
Defense lawyer Geir Lippestad has previously said it is important to Breivik that people see him as sane so they don't dismiss his views. During his trial, Breivik promised that he would not appeal if the court found him criminally responsible for his actions. The court had to consider conflicting opinions from medical experts in reaching its verdict.
An initial team of psychiatrists found Breivik to be paranoid and schizophrenic, following 36 hours of interviews.
However, a second pair of experts found he was not psychotic at the time of the attacks, does not suffer from a psychiatric condition and is not mentally challenged.
Their report said there was a "high risk high risk for repeated violent actions."
Breivik's rampage, the worst atrocity on Norwegian soil since World War II, prompted much soul-searching. Norwegians reasserted their commitment to multiculturalism and tolerance at a series of mass public tributes held in the immediate aftermath of the massacre.
And earlier this month, Norway's chief of police stepped down after an independent commission detailed a catalog of police and intelligence failures.
It concluded that those errors cost police 30 minutes in getting to Utoya, and that dozens of lives might have been saved. Speaking last month on the anniversary of the killings, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg urged Norwegians to "honor the dead by celebrating life," and said Breivik had failed in his attempt to change Norway's values.
So it is a small victory for Breivik that he and his actions were declared sane now. Then again, as cold-blooded, planned and politically motivated as his deed was it's kind of hard, and maybe even too much of an easy way out, to dismiss him as insane, as unreal as such a act seems to us. So, 21 years, with the outlook of more if he is still a threat. May not sound enough at first glance, but works.
The most important result is the last paragraph anyway. Norway did not turn vigilante or paranoid, but kept its spirit. I hope the country punishes him by still being as multi-cultural and open minded as it is.
*MySmiley*
Robert Graves "There is no money in poetry, but then there is no poetry in money, either."
Henning Mankell "We must defend the open society, because if we start locking our doors, if we let fear decide, the person who committed the act of terror will win"
Robert Graves "There is no money in poetry, but then there is no poetry in money, either."
Henning Mankell "We must defend the open society, because if we start locking our doors, if we let fear decide, the person who committed the act of terror will win"
Norway killer Anders Breivik ruled sane, given 21-year prison term
24/08/2012 11:35:06 AM
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Only 21 years? Weaksauce. *NM*
24/08/2012 02:35:56 PM
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It can be extended if they think he's still a danger. *NM*
24/08/2012 03:24:41 PM
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How do they decide that?
24/08/2012 04:22:31 PM
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[Norway, 20 years from now]
24/08/2012 04:42:45 PM
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OR
24/08/2012 04:54:39 PM
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Pretty sure mine's more futuristically accurate. *NM*
24/08/2012 05:23:33 PM
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Your extensive experience with forensic psychology is really shining through here. *NM*
25/08/2012 11:08:28 AM
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Is it that simple?
24/08/2012 05:04:34 PM
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Actually, in the sentence declared...
24/08/2012 05:10:44 PM
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If that's so . . .
24/08/2012 05:19:51 PM
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Well, obviously, it's in case he reforms
24/08/2012 08:02:48 PM
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That's where the system goes wrong though.
24/08/2012 08:46:49 PM
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There is a point to keep him locked up. Actually, 77 points.
25/08/2012 06:12:36 PM
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I agree.
25/08/2012 06:26:34 PM
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From what I can tell they do it that way to impose a minimum sentence without parole.
26/08/2012 01:28:21 AM
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really? I hate the media
24/08/2012 09:22:03 PM
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Jonte is right about forvaring, but it is so foreign to us media overlooking it is hardly surprising
26/08/2012 01:16:17 AM
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LOL, my wife and I have nearly given up on an English translation of "forvaring."
26/08/2012 12:50:19 AM
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Can you give some version of it?
26/08/2012 01:38:07 AM
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Did, in my response to rt.
26/08/2012 01:55:05 AM
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Good. *NM*
24/08/2012 02:47:21 PM
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Timothy McVeigh was executed.
24/08/2012 05:13:49 PM
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I never did understand the point of this trial
24/08/2012 06:27:57 PM
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Well, wouldn't the answer be that nobody goes to any sort of institution w/o first
24/08/2012 06:39:56 PM
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I mostly agree with you.
24/08/2012 06:48:04 PM
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What people think.
25/08/2012 07:03:02 PM
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hm
25/08/2012 07:34:05 PM
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So far, it looks like I am wrong
25/08/2012 09:28:09 PM
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I don't know if being a sociopath is the same as being insane.
25/08/2012 09:30:47 PM
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Which is the biggest reason I probably need to be more hip to the definitions.
25/08/2012 09:52:19 PM
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Yeah, exactly. That kinda makes it impossible for me to vote. *NM*
26/08/2012 12:10:38 AM
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It is really REALLY hard to decide; even professional have had difficulty.
26/08/2012 02:08:43 AM
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21 years for killing 70+ people - Norway is a crazy, crazy place. *NM*
25/08/2012 04:44:07 PM
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Did you read any of the other replies in this post?
25/08/2012 05:24:21 PM
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Did you really expect him to read when he had the opportunity to be loud and snippy? *NM*
26/08/2012 01:40:30 AM
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It would be an understatement to say I have mixed feelings about this.
26/08/2012 12:39:19 AM
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For those who are confused about the premise of the Norwegian justice system
26/08/2012 09:25:18 AM
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I fear this clarification may further confuse things, by making punishment seem a non-factor.
26/08/2012 09:41:48 PM
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