InfoAnda - The ordeal of defending Norway's mass killer |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Charlie Sheen fired; studio fears life in danger | | 8 March 2011
Hasidic star Matisyahu mixes it up on new album | 25 August 2009
Qaeda's Zawahri attacks Obama, Arabs in new video | International | | 23 September 2009

Dennis Quaid, wife, settle with hospital | 16 December 2008

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : The ordeal of defending Norway's mass killer |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Full Focus Editor's choice Our best photos from the last 24 hours. Full Article Images of February Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read 'Hunger Games' gorges on $214 million global debut 10:37am EDT Supreme court unlikely to delay Obama healthcare ruling | 5:35pm EDT Black friend defends shooter of Florida teen 25 Mar 2012 Bernanke's words drive Wall Street up 1 percent 4:36pm EDT Facebook: Evidence shows NY man's lawsuit is fraud 1:33pm EDT Discussed 215 Cheney recovering after heart transplant: spokeswoman 195 Obama makes killing of black Florida teen personal 174 Black friend defends shooter of Florida teen Watched Japanese tsunami boat appears near Canada Sat, Mar 24 2012 James Cameron back from the abyss Sun, Mar 25 2012 Obama tells Iran time running out to end nuclear standoff 11:53am EDT The ordeal of defending Norway's mass killer Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Norway mass killer charged with terrorism Wed, Mar 7 2012 Analysis & Opinion Anti-Islamist protest group to form a Freedom Party in Britain Related Topics World » Norway » Flowers and candles are seen at a temporary memorial site for the victims of the shooting spree and bomb attack in Norway, on the shore in front of Utoeya island, northwest of Oslo, July 26, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch By Balazs Koranyi and Benjamin Ree TOENSBERG, Norway | Mon Mar 26, 2012 4:03pm EDT TOENSBERG, Norway (Reuters) - The morning after militant rightist Anders Behring Breivik ran amok on a small Norwegian island, hunting down and shooting dead 69 people, Geir Lippestad received a call from the police asking if he would defend him. "My first reaction was 'no, I don't want to do this, it's just too difficult." He turned to his wife, a nurse. "She said 'wait. If he was shot, the doctors and nurses would... help him, they'd do their job. You're a lawyer, so don't you want to do your job?'" Eight months have passed since that call and there have been hard times for Lippestad. In the first days, he received anonymous threats and had to deal with the dismay of some acquaintances. For a while he was assigned a security detail. Now the April 16 trial is approaching, reviving memories of what for the whole of Norway was a traumatic event; but Lippestad has no regrets about taking the case. Breivik detonated a car bomb in central Oslo On July 22, killing eight. In the chaos that ensued, he traveled to a small island where the Labour Party were holding a youth camp. There, brandishing an automatic rifle, he worked his way across the island gunning down terrified victims. He did it, as he told police, to "protect" the Nordic nation from multiculturalism. After his capture by police, he asked for Lippestad to defend him as once he had defended a neo-Nazi accused of murder. Ole Nicolai Kvisler received 15 years in jail in 2002 for killing Norwegian-Ghanaian teenager Benjamin Hermansen. Lippestad, a short, stocky shaven-headed man with a measured, soft-spoken manner, does not subscribe to Kvisler's far-right ideology. A member of the ruling Labour Party, 47-year-old Lippestad's own values reflect the way Norway likes to see itself - as a liberal country with tolerant attitudes cutting across ethnic, social and cultural lines. The lawyer became convinced defending Breivik was key in defending the values he believed in, especially at time when some were calling for a toughening of Norway's open society and criminal justice system, where there is no death penalty and the maximum prison sentence is 21 years. "It would be so easy to say ‘this case is so cruel and difficult that this person shouldn't get the same rights as others'," he told Reuters in an interview. "But if we change the rules for one person, we threaten the core of democracy. People must enjoy the same rights and must be punished by the same laws." Lippestad, one of the few individuals in Norway with close, regular access to the killer, said Breivik "believes we are at war." "He wishes for a new world order that few people can agree with," he said. Breivik has never expressed regrets for his actions. At the trial, Lippestad may argue in Breivik's favor that he spared the youngest children during the island massacre, collaborated with police, tried to surrender and confessed to his actions. He will argue his client is sane, in line with the wishes of Breivik, who regards himself as sound of mind. A first medical report declared him to be insane, but the results of a second examination are pending. SYMPATHY OF SURVIVORS "No matter how horrible a crime was, a defendant has to have someone looking out for his interest. This is just a vital brick in the wall of democracy," said Lippestad. "I would say 99 percent of Norway understood this is absolutely vital to a sound justice system." Lippestad has received support from other parts of Norwegian society, including from survivors of the attacks. At Breivik's last remand hearing in February, Helene Georgsen, a 16-year-old survivor of the shooting spree, approached Lippestad to shake his hand. "I wanted to show him my support. He does a very important job and he does it incredibly well," she told Reuters after speaking with the lawyer. In return, Lippestad showed visible concern for the teenager, asking in his ever-calm voice how she was doing and whether she was getting assistance from her lawyer. "You should prepare yourself for the trial, it will be tough," he told her. Several chat groups with hundreds of members have sprung up on Facebook to show Lippestad support. "It is a dirty job but someone has to do it," said one post, while another noted: "The man has an inhumane task to deal with." "LOST MY SOUL" "He is probably one of the world's most patient men," Vibeke Hein Baera said, one of three lawyers assisting him in the case. "He is just a nice, calm, friendly man and I simply don't know how he does it. I often find myself going home and just crying," Mette Yvonne Larsen, a lawyer representing survivors and relatives of the victims, told Reuters. "When there are just four people on your side and the entire world is against you, this job is vital. It's not defending what he did, it's making sure all the arguments are on the table." While dealing with the difficulties of the Breivik case, Lippestad was also facing his own personal trauma. He and his wife have eight children altogether, including from previous relationships, of which two children have disabilities. One of them, 16-year-old Rebekka, has struggled for years with deteriorating health and earlier this year Lippestad faced the danger of losing her, just as his wife was expecting a baby girl, Mille Madicken. "For a long time I felt ashamed about having another child just when so many parents lost their own children," he said. Rebekka eventually pulled through but remains frail and Lippestad admits that caring for her has been a source of calm for him. "We are used to living through crises, and we are used to overcoming them and living life to the fullest," he said. But Lippestad also experiences moments when the enormity of his situation takes its toll - especially with the ten weeks of a gruesome trial approaching and the attention of Norway and the world on him. "I feel I have lost my soul in this case," Lippestad recently told the French daily Le Monde. "I hope to get it back once it's over - and that it will be in the same condition as before." (Additional reporting and editing by Gwladys Fouche in Oslo and Alistair Scrutton in Stockholm) World Norway Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Ex-IMF head Strauss-Kahn put under formal probe in France |
Pope receives warm welcome in communist Cuba |
Footage filmed by French gunman sent to Al Jazeera: police |
Japan Airlines takes delivery of two Boeing 787s |
Cameron discloses Downing Street dinners in access row |
The ordeal of defending Norway's mass killer |
Microsoft seizes servers in Zeus cyberfraud |
Apple's gains make some mutual funds riskier |
Big venture firm raises the networking stakes |
NFC phone sales to jump to 100 million in 2012: research |
Facebook: Evidence shows New York man's lawsuit is fraud |
Titanic director makes first solo dive to Earth's deepest point |
Madonna's 'MDNA' receives lukewarm welcome from critics |
Scarlett Johansson celebrity hacker pleads guilty |
Jack Osbourne recovering after appendix removal |
Early Les Paul guitars to be sold at auction |
Japan goes off script at nuclear summit to slam North Korea |
U.S. seeks missile-defense shields for Asia, Mideast |
Analysis: West waits on Myanmar vote to start sanctions scale-back |
Australian Senate no legal haven for Wikileaks boss |
North Korea gives details of weather satellite launch |
Turkey's ex-army chief refuses defense in terrorism trial |
Analysis: Greek nightmare makes poor ad for asset sales |
Syria replies to Annan; Homs shelled again |
Seeking Cuba freedoms, pope to honor patron saint |
Apple CEO in China mission to clear up problems |
Microsoft seizes servers in Zeus cyberfraud |
New Sony CEO to directly oversee troubled TV ops |
Madonna's MDNA receives lukewarm welcome from critics |
Director James Cameron awestruck at ocean's deepest spot |
NY studios expand in bid for more films, TV shows |
Scarlett Johansson celebrity hacker pleads guilty |
Bobby Brown arrested for driving under the influence |
Bully documentary to land in theaters unrated |
Greek parties say election likely to be on May 6: sources |
Russian cannibal serial killer confesses to police |
Chavez leads rival in latest poll |
Spain arrests Qaeda suspect for inciting attacks |
Treasury: Iran airline, officials help ship arms |
Bahrain rejects Shi'ite teenager's claim of police abuse |
Apple, Sony, 4 others sued by Graphics Properties |
Australia regulator says Apple misleading consumers on iPad |
Apple supplier Hon Hai to take 11 percent stake in Sharp |
Most of world interconnected through email, social media |
Fraud costs Asia $1 billion a year: Progress Software |
China's Huawei down but not out in Australia |
Angry Birds maker buys Finnish gaming studio |
OTI sues T-Mobile USA, alleges patent infringement |
Harry Potter novels available in ebook format |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01