A judge in the trial of confessed Norway mass killer Anders Breivik was on Tuesday dismissed for his online comment that the anti-Muslim extremist who murdered 77 innocent people should face the death penalty.
The trial against Breivik began Monday with two professional judges, as well as three lay judges - local politicians who are appointed for four-year terms and participate on an equal basis in deciding guilt and sentencing. The key issue to be resolved during the trial, expected to last 10 weeks, is Breivik's mental state.
Following the killings last July, lay judge Thomas Indreboe posted "the death penalty is the only just outcome of this case" on a Facebook page. Lawyers on all sides had requested that Indreboe be taken off the trial and he was replaced by back-up lay judge Elisabeth Wisloeff.
The death penalty is not practiced in Norway and most other European countries.
On Tuesday, Breivik addressed the court, reading a manifesto prepared while he was in custody. His testimony is not being broadcast live, but representatives of central world media were present in the courtroom.
In his statement, the terrorist said he acted out of “goodness not evil” to prevent a civil war and “would have done it again.”
"I have carried out the most spectacular and sophisticated attack on Europe since World War II," the BBC quoted as saying the 33-year-old. He admitted carrying out the massacre, but denied criminal responsibility for it. "I cannot plead guilty," he said. "I acted in defense of my culture and of my people and so I ask to be acquitted."
He also said that life in prison or dying for his people would be “the biggest honor” before the judge interrupted his speech.
Many survivors and families of the victims are worried that Breivik may use the trial to promote his extremist ideology. In a statement Breivik published online before the attacks, he wrote that "patriotic resistance fighters" should use trials "as a platform to further our cause."
