海角大神

The trial against Anders Behring Breivik, the self-confessed killer behind Norway鈥檚 twin terror attacks last year, entered a more confrontational stage as the first witnesses from the shooting rampage at Ut酶ya island began testimony today.

Until now, the trial, which addresses Norway鈥檚 worst peacetime atrocity, has been calm and civil, with few sharp exchanges.聽

Tonje Brenna, general secretary for Labor Party youth and one of several hundred survivors from the Labour Party summer political camp gathering, testified in Oslo District Court that Breivik yelled 鈥渟atisfied shouts鈥� after shooting his victims.聽Breivik has denied in earlier court statements that he behaved that way and shook his head in court as he listened to Brenna鈥檚 testimony.

鈥淚 am sure I heard it, and I am sure there was no grounds for anyone else saying that,鈥� Brenna said when pressed by defense attorney Geir Lippestad if she was certain the shouts came from Breivik.聽

Breivik later flashed a disapproving grimace when Brenna聽described him as a聽鈥減assive鈥� participant in court, compared to Ut酶ya, where he "controlled" what was happening. He also聽told the judge he would like to question Brenna about the Labour Party youth鈥檚 ideology, a request that was quickly denied.

Brenna was the first of the 46 victims scheduled to testify about the Ut酶ya attack following an emotional week of autopsy reports. Breivik is charged with killing 69, mostly teenagers, during the Ut酶ya attack, as well as eight others in a car bombing of the main government building earlier that day.

The 24-year-old recounted in court of how she survived the attack by hiding in the cliff wall by the water鈥檚 edge while Breivik hunted them, unhampered, for more than an hour with a Glock pistol and Ruger semi-automatic rifle.

鈥淚 thought it was just a matter of time鈥� the shots were just so close,鈥� Brenna told public prosecutor Svein Holden.

Breivik was today placed one row behind his two main defense lawyers, flanked by two others in his defense team, to shield victims from seeing him directly when they testify. Breivik may also be removed altogether from the courtroom during some of the upcoming Ut酶ya victims鈥� testimony at their request.

Breivik remained mostly unfazed today, as he has throughout his trial, which is focused on determining his sanity.

One forensic psychiatric report has found Breivik to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and hence criminally not punishable, while a second found no signs of psychosis.聽Breivik has said he wants to be considered sane to make sure his ideology stands stronger. He claims he is a militant nationalist that targeted the Labor Party because of its lenient immigration policies, which were leading to the ethnic cleansing of indigenous Norwegians through Muslim colonization.

Earlier this week, the court released an updated defense witness list that aims to strengthen Breivik鈥檚 case for sanity.

The new list includes more psychiatric personnel who observed Breivik in prison, such as Randi Rosenqvist, a specialist on paranoid schizophrenia, as well as new experts on history, politics, religion, and society. The latter are part of the defense鈥檚 effort to prove that Breivik鈥檚 extreme political views are at least partly shared by other extremists and not due to psychosis.