ADMITS KILLING 77, BUT PLEADS NOT GUILTY

BREIVIK, GUNMAN WHO KILLED 77
PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN NORWAY TRIAL

http://indiatoday.intoday.in - The trial of Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people last year, started on Monday in Oslo with his sanity the biggest bone of contention. An unrepentant Breivik played to the cameras on day one as he arrived in the court room. Looking smug, the mass killer grinned as a guard removed his handcuffs when he entered the court room. He then flashed a closed-fist “right wing” salute before telling the judge he did not recognise the court. Prosecutors then read out the names of those killed and injured and graphic details of how each one happened in the devastating shooting spree. Some of the methods were so horrific that Norwegian media bleeped the sound when they were read out. However, Breivik sat through it all stone faced just claiming that he was acting in self defence. “I acknowledge the acts but I do not plead guilty and I claim that I was doing it in self-defence,” Breivik, who carried out the rampage on July 22, 2011, said.

While Breivik betrayed no other emotions during the judge’s litany, his face became red and he wiped away tears when the court was shown the 12-minute anti-Muslim video he posted to YouTube on the day of the attacks. Since he has confessed to the attacks last year, the key issue would be his sanity. During his nine-month prison custody, two psychoanalysis reports on Breivik were made and submitted to the court, presenting two different results. One report has declared that he was mentally fit, but now the court would decide on it. If declared mentally sound, Breivik would give his reasons for the massacre. Breivik had first allegedly set off a car bomb outside government buildings in Oslo killing eight people and later he gunned down another 69 people, mostly teenagers in Utoya village. The trial is not intended to determine whether he carried out the attacks, however, but rather if he can be held responsible.

The man accused of killing 77 people in a bomb-and-shooting spree last July 22 said he admits “to the acts, but not criminal guilt.” Despite remaining stony-faced during the description of the attack and video of the explosion and its aftermath, Breivik’s eyes welled up as the court viewed an anti-Islam film summarising his manifesto posted online the day of the carnage. He shows no remorse for his actions but considers them justified in order to rid Norway and Europe of multiculturalism and Islamisation.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

“The hunter then admitted that he was convinced of his sinful activity, and he said, ‘I have been taught this business from my very childhood. Now I am wondering how I can become freed from these unlimited volumes of sinful activity.’” This kind of admission is very beneficial as long as one does not again commit sin. Cheating and hypocrisy are not tolerated by higher authorities. If one understands what sin is, he should give it up with sincerity and regret and surrender unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through His agent, the pure devotee. In this way, one can be freed from the reactions of sin and make progress in devotional service. However, if one continues committing sins after making some atonement, he will not be saved.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Madhya 24.253
“Madhya-līlā” - Chapter 24
“The Sixty-One Explanations of the Ātmārāma Verse”
Verse 253 - Bhaktivedanta VedaBase