SKIEN, Norway: Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian far-right fanatic who killed 77 people in bomb-and-gun massacres in 2011, argued Tuesday for an early release from prison.
He told a parole judge he had renounced violence even as he professed white supremacist views and flashed Nazi salutes.
Breivik, 42, is serving Norway’s maximum 21-year sentence for setting off a bomb in Oslo’s government district and carrying out a shooting massacre at a summer camp for left-wing youth activists. Under Norwegian law, he is eligible for his first parole hearing after 10 years in prison.
Though experts agree Breivik is highly unlikely to be released, authorities have insisted he has the same rights as any other prisoner, arguing that treating him differently would undermine the principles that underpin Norwegian society, including the rule of law and freedom of speech.
At the three-day hearing, which is taking place in the high-security prison in Skien, south of Oslo, where he is being held in isolation with three cells at his disposal, Breivik made full use of his rights.
Sporting a stubble beard and a two-piece suit, he entered the makeshift courtroom in a prison gymnasium by raising his right hand in a Nazi salute and holding up homemade signs with white supremacist messages. One sign was pinned to his suit.
Asked by the prosecutor who the messages were aimed at, he said they were directed at millions of people “who support white power.”
The Associated Press resists being used as a conduit for speech or images that espouse hate or spread propaganda and is not publishing images showing Breivik’s Nazi salutes and other white supremacist propaganda.
Breivik has used previous court hearings to disseminate conspiracy theories of an ongoing genocide against white people in the West. Some worry he could inspire like-minded people to carry out similar attacks. But since his criminal trial in 2012, many Norwegians have insisted that the best way to defy his world view is to stand up for a tolerant, open society and show that the system he claims is oppressing him in fact is giving him every chance to have his day in court.
Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, a law professor at Oslo University, said Breivik was pushing the boundaries in Tuesday’s hearing.
“At the same time, it’s fairly clear that the prosecutor has a very clear strategy here,” she said. “By letting him speak ... he gets his very incoherent message out in the open.”
In a rambling monologue to the court, Breivik argued there is a distinction between militant and nonmilitant white nationalists and said he had been brainwashed by the former when he carried out his attacks in Oslo and at the summer retreat on Utoya Island.
“Today, I strongly dissociate myself from violence and terror,” he said. “I hereby give you my word of honor that this is behind me forever.”
Reminding the court of the scale of the attacks, prosecutor Hulda Karlsdottir read the names of each of Breivik’s victims, many of them teenagers on the annual retreat. Many were shot multiple times and some drowned as they tried to swim from the island in panic. During the criminal trial, Breivik said he considered the victims traitors for embracing multiculturalism and that he regretted not having killed even more.
Karlsdottir stressed the parole hearing was not about re-examining guilt, saying, “The main topic here is the danger associated with release.”
Breivik didn’t express any remorse, saying only that he cries for victims on “both sides” in what he described as a culture war.
The court is set to sit until Thursday and a ruling is expected later this month.
During a break in the proceedings, Breivik’s lawyer Øystein Storrvik was asked whether his client was using the hearing to spread his propaganda.
“That is a right he has under Norwegian law,” he was quoted as saying by national broadcaster NRK. “Whether what he chooses to say is wise or not is another matter.”
Groups representing survivors and families of victims have said they won’t comment during the hearing. Before the session, Lisbeth Kristine Røyneland, who heads a support group, said she was afraid Breivik would use the opportunity “to talk freely and convey his extreme views to people who have the same mindset.”
Breivik was declared criminally sane in his trial, even though the prosecution argued that he was psychotic. He didn’t appeal his sentence but unsuccessfully sued the government for human rights violations for denying him the right to communicate with sympathizers.
Although Norway’s maximum sentence is 21 years, Breivik could be held longer under a provision that allows authorities to keep criminals in prison for as long as they’re considered a menace to society.
Breivik has been trying to start a fascist party in prison and reached out by mail to likeminded extremists in Europe and the United States. Prison officials seized many of those letters, fearing he would inspire other violent attacks. Ahead of the parole hearing, Randi Rosenqvist, the psychiatrist who has followed Breivik since 2012, said she could “not detect great changes in Breivik’s functioning.”
Norway mass killer seeks parole 10 years after attacks
https://arab.news/vhvg5
Norway mass killer seeks parole 10 years after attacks
- Under Norwegian law, Breivik is eligible for his first parole hearing after 10 years in prison.
- Asked by the prosecutor who the messages were aimed at, he said they were directed at millions of people “who support white power”
Arrests made at protests against UK arms sales to Israel
- Police in London, Glasgow called to deal with demonstrations
- ‘Protesters must stay within the law,’ Metropolitan Police says
LONDON: Police in London said they made three arrests at demonstrations held on Wednesday to protest against the sale of UK arms to Israel.
Protesters gathered outside the offices of the Department for Business and Trade in central London and more than 1,000 workers and trade unionists held protests at sites linked to BAE Systems across the UK.
“We are policing a protest in Admiralty Place and Horse Guards Parade,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
“Officers have made three arrests after protesters blocked access to a building. Protesters must stay within the law.”
Police Scotland also confirmed its officers were called to a site in Glasgow to deal with protesters on Wednesday.
Members of Workers for a Free Palestine said the group was “escalating its tactics” by targeting BAE Systems cities and the British government department on the same day, the Independent reported.
“Our movement forced the issue of an arms embargo onto the table and polling shows the majority of the British public want to see arms sales to Israel banned, yet the government and also the Labour Party continue to ignore the will of the people,” a WFP protester named Tania, who took to the streets in London, told the newspaper.
“The government has sought to play down the scale of its arms supplies to Israel but the reality is UK arms and military support play a vital role in the Israeli war machine and evidence that three British aid workers were killed by a drone partly produced in the UK shows the extent of British complicity in Israel’s genocide,” she said.
Another protester, named Jamie, who was demonstrating in Glasgow, said: “Our fundamental aim is for the UK government to introduce an arms embargo. It’s the morally right thing to do.
“It’s vital that action is taken. It’s been almost seven months of death and destruction in Palestine and the idea that that is being committed by weapons that are being produced in our neighborhoods is horrifying.
“Our long-term goal is an arms embargo from the government but our short-term aim here today is to just disrupt business as usual for BAE, to disrupt the manufacture, to cost them time, cost them money and slow down the trade of weapons to Israel.”
BAE Systems said it respected people’s “right to protest peacefully” and that its arms exports complied with regulations.
“The ongoing violence in the Middle East is having a devastating impact on civilians in the region and we hope the parties involved find a way to end the violence as soon as possible,” it said.
“We operate under the tightest regulation and comply fully with all applicable defense export controls, which are subject to ongoing assessment.”
US defends talking to Taliban in Afghanistan
- Dialogue works in US interests, supports Afghan people, State Department says
- Taliban took power in 2021 following withdrawal of US-led coalition
LONDON: The US State Department has defended talking to the Taliban in order to serve Washington’s interests in Afghanistan and the wider region.
The department’s principal deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, told reporters that talking with the group not only worked in US interests but supported “the Afghan people.”
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces and the collapse of the Western-backed Afghan government.
They have drawn significant hostility on the international stage for their repression of people, especially their treatment of women and girls, limits on education and reintroduction of violent punishment.
Some fear engaging with the Taliban could lend them legitimacy, but Patel said dialogue between the group and the US “allows us to speak directly with the Taliban, and it’s an opportunity for us to continue to press for the immediate and unconditional release of US nationals in Afghanistan, including those who we have determined to be wrongfully detained.”
“We’ll also use those opportunities to directly talk about the Taliban’s commitments to counterterrorism and of course, as always, human rights is also on the agenda,” he said.
British police officer pleads guilty to terror charges for showing support for Hamas
- Adil pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates’ Court to two counts of publishing an image in support of a proscribed organization in violation of the Terrorism Act
- Two other police officers who were concerned by the images reported Adil to superiors
LONDON: A British police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to terror charges for showing support on social media for Hamas, which is designated a terror group and banned in the UK.
West Yorkshire constable Mohammed Adil admitted sharing two images on WhatsApp supporting the group three weeks after Hamas and other Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7 and killed about 1,200 people and seized some 250 hostages.
Adil, 26, pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates’ Court to two counts of publishing an image in support of a proscribed organization in violation of the Terrorism Act.
In messages shared on WhatsApp stories with nearly 1,100 contacts, Adil posted images of a fighter wearing a Hamas headband, prosecutor Bridget Fitzpatrick said.
“Today is the time for the Palestinian people to rise, set their paths straight and establish an independent Palestinian state,” an Oct. 31 post said, apparently quoting the leader of Hamas’ military wing.
A second post on Nov. 4 was said to quote a Hamas military spokesperson.
Two other police officers who were concerned by the images reported Adil to superiors, Fitzpatrick said. He was arrested in November and has been suspended from the force.
“I accept that at the time of the offending you were of good character,” Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring told Adil, though he said he may impose a prison term when he is sentenced June 4.
Adil was released on bail.
California police move in to dismantle pro-Palestinian protest camp at UCLA
- The pre-dawn police crackdown at UCLA marked the latest flashpoint for mounting tensions on US college campuses
- Live TV footage showed about six protesters under arrest
LOS ANGELES: Hundreds of helmeted police muscled their way into a central plaza of the University of California at Los Angeles early on Thursday to dismantle a pro-Palestinian protest camp attacked the previous night by pro-Israel supporters.
The pre-dawn police crackdown at UCLA marked the latest flashpoint for mounting tensions on US college campuses, where protests over Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza have led to student clashes with each other and law enforcement.
Live TV footage showed about six protesters under arrest, kneeling on the ground, their hands bound behind their backs with zip-ties.
Dozens of loud explosions were heard during the clash from flash-bang charges, or stun grenades, fired by police.
Demonstrators, some carrying makeshift shields and umbrellas, sought to block the officers’ advance by their sheer numbers, while shouting, “push them back” and flashing bright lights in the eyes of the police. Others on the opposite side of the camp gave up quickly, and were seen walking away with their hands over their heads under police escort.
Around sunset on Wednesday, officers in tactical gear had begun filing onto the UCLA campus and taking up positions adjacent to a complex of tents occupied by throngs of demonstrators, live footage from the scene showed.
Local television station KABC-TV estimated 300 to 500 protesters were hunkered down inside the camp, while around 2,000 more had gathered outside the barricades in support.
But the assembled police stood by on the periphery for hours before finally starting to force their way into the encampment around 3:15 a.m. PDT (1015 GMT), tearing down barricades and arresting occupants who refused to leave. The raid was led by a phalanx of California Highway Patrol officers carrying shields and batons.
Some of the protesters had been seen donning hard hats, goggles and respirator masks in anticipation of the siege a day after the university declared the encampment unlawful.
Prior to moving in, police urged demonstrators in repeated loudspeaker announcements to clear the protest zone, which occupied a plaza about the size of a football field between the landmark twin-tower auditorium Royce Hall and the main undergraduate library.
An initial group of Los Angeles police officers who briefly entered a corner of the camp were overwhelmed by demonstrators and forced to retreat, before reinforcements arrived by the busload about an hour later.
Violent clash precedes crackdown
UCLA had canceled classes for the day on Wednesday following a violent clash between the encampment’s occupants and a group of masked counter-demonstrators who mounted a surprise assault late Tuesday night on the tent city.
The occupants of the outdoor protest camp, set up last week, had remained mostly peaceful before the melee, in which both sides traded blows and doused each other with pepper spray.
Members of the pro-Palestinian group said fireworks were thrown at them and they were beaten with bats and sticks. University officials blamed the disturbance on “instigators” and vowed an investigation.
The confrontation went on for two or three hours into early Wednesday morning before police restored order. A spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom later criticized the “limited and delayed campus law enforcement response” to the unrest as “unacceptable.”
As the much-expanded police force entered the campus on Wednesday night to clear the encampment, some of the protesters were heard yelling at them, “Where were you yesterday?“
Taylor Gee, a 30-year old pro-Palestinian protester and UCLA law student, said the police action felt “especially galling” to many protesters given the slow police response a night earlier.
“For them to come out the next night to remove us from the encampment, it doesn’t make any sense, but it also makes all the sense in the world.”
Protests at schools across the US
UCLA officials said the campus, which enrolls nearly 52,000 students, including undergraduates and graduate scholars, would remain shuttered except for limited operations on Thursday and Friday.
The protests follow the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip and the ensuing Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave.
Students have rallied or set up tent encampments at dozens of schools across the US in recent days, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and demanding schools divest from companies that support Israel’s government. Many of the schools have called in police to quell the protests.
The demonstrations across the country have been met with counter-protesters accusing them of fomenting anti-Jewish hatred. The pro-Palestinian side, including Jews opposed to Israeli actions in Gaza, say they are being unfairly branded as antisemitic for criticizing Israel’s government and expressing support for human rights.
The issue has taken on political overtones in the run-up to the US presidential election in November, with Republicans accusing some university administrators of turning a blind eye to antisemitic rhetoric and harassment.
Wednesday night’s police action came a day after police in New York City arrested pro-Palestinian activists who occupied a building at Columbia University and removed a tent city from the campus of the Ivy League school.
Police arrested a total of about 300 people at Columbia and City College of New York, Mayor Eric Adams said. Many of those arrested were charged with trespassing and criminal mischief.
The clashes at UCLA and in New York were part of the biggest outpouring of US student activism since the anti-racism rallies and marches of 2020.
Ninety pro-Palestinian demonstrators — students and outsiders — were arrested at Dartmouth University in New Hampshire on Wednesday, the Hanover Police Department said. They were charged with criminal trespass and resisting arrest.
Indonesia explores opportunities in Suez Canal Economic Zone
- Egypt is Indonesia’s top trade partner in the North African region
- Indonesia has lately been increasing trade engagement with Egypt
JAKARTA: Indonesia is setting its sights on cooperation with the Suez Canal Economic Zone, authorities have said after a series of ministerial-level meetings in Cairo this week.
An Indonesian delegation led by Deputy Trade Minister Jerry Sambuaga met with officials from the Suez Canal Economic Zone on Sunday to explore opportunities, as Jakarta seeks to boost exports through the vital waterway that is the shortest route between Asia and Europe.
Closer cooperation with the Suez Canal Economic Zone would help Indonesia boost its exports to Egypt, as well as other parts of Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia, Sambuaga said.
“This is in keeping with the fact that more than 8 percent of global trade goes through the Suez Canal annually … We hope that in the future, Indonesia and Egypt will have stronger cooperation and we will see an increase in the export of Indonesian goods to Egypt,” the minister added.
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has been increasing its trade engagement with Egypt, which it sees as a gateway for exports to other African countries.
Sambuaga’s trip to Cairo followed the visit of Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan just last year, when he signed a memorandum of understanding with Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir to form a joint trade committee to boost commercial relations.
Earlier in March, Indonesia worked alongside Malaysia to explore the possibilities of a free trade pact between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Egypt.
Egypt ranks third among Indonesia’s top export destinations in the Middle East and North Africa, just after the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
With bilateral trade volume worth around $1.58 billion in 2023, Egypt is Indonesia’s top trade partner in North Africa alone. Palm oil, coffee beans, and coconut oil are some of Indonesia’s main exports to Egypt.
