OSLO — Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik said Thursday he will not appeal a guilty verdict if an Oslo court declares him to be sane.
Breivik, who spent much of his time in court either stony-faced or smirking, said he was “mentally damaged” after listening to days of harrowing witness statements, Sky News reported.
Breivik told the court, “I spend a lot of energy hiding my emotions, and I am very tired when I get back to prison.”
Directing his comments to the judges, the 33-year-old added, “There is absolutely no reason to appeal if I am declared criminally accountable.”
The right-wing extremist has confessed to killing eight people by detonating a bomb in Oslo and a further 69 during a shooting spree at a political youth camp on nearby Utoya island.
He refuses to plead guilty to the charge of terrorism, claiming the shootings were “cruel but necessary” to stop the Norwegian Labour Party’s “multicultural experiment” and the “Muslim invasion” of Norway and Europe.
At the end of the trial, five judges will have to decide if Breivik is insane or criminally responsible for the atrocities.
If Breivik is found sane, he faces 21 years in prison, although the sentence may be extended if he is considered a threat to society. If he is found insane, he could spend the rest of his life on a closed psychiatric ward.
Psychiatric examinations prior to the trial disagreed on whether he is legally insane. A first psychiatric report declared Breivik to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, but a second opinion found him of sound mind.