OSLO (AFP) – The lawyer for the Norwegian gunman who has claimed responsibility for killing 76 people in twin attacks last week said Tuesday that everything about his client's case indicates he is "insane".
"This whole case indicates that he's insane," Geir Lippestad told journalists of Anders Behring Breivik, adding that a medical evaluation would take place to establish his psychiatric condition.
"He believes that he's in a war and he believes that when you're in a war you can do things like that without pleading guilty," the lawyer said of the 32-year-old Norwegian who claims to be trying to bring about an anti-Muslim revolution.
Asked about the implications of his client being adjudged medically insane after blowing up the government centre in Oslo and shooting dead 68 people on a nearby island, Lippestad said: "He can't be punished in a jail."
Also Tuesday, Norwegian authorities indicated they may charge the suspect with crimes against humanity as the government rose to the defence of police following criticism of the response to the island shooting spree.
Lippestad, appearing to pave the way for a defence that could see his client escape prison, after medical experts acceptable to the prosecution are found, said Behring Breivik "has a view on reality that is very, very difficult to explain."
He said his client used unspecified drugs to make himself "strong, efficient, to keep him awake" going into Friday's rampage.
"He thought he'd be killed after the bombing, after the action on the island, and he also thought he'd be killed at trial," Lippestad said.
In fact, "he was a little bit surprised that he succeeded, that in his mind he succeeded," Lippestad added.
Asked whether Behring Breivik had shown any empathy for his mainly young victims, Lippestad said: "No."
Behring Breivik wrote and published a 1,500-page manifesto immediately before starting his bombing and shooting spree.
"He believes this war will continue for 60 years and in 60 years this war will be won," Lippestad said of the events he believes he has triggered, preparations for which are painstakingly chronicled in the tract.
In Oslo, the head of the Labour Party's youth movement vowed to restore its summer camp on the island.
"We are sending a clear message: we are going to reclaim the island," party youth leader Eskil Andersen said.
A Norwegian businessman already having pledged around 600,000 euros (870,000 dollars) to redevelop the island, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Oslo.
Authorities said earlier they were considering charging Behring Breivik with crimes against humanity over the massacre in Norway as the government leapt to the defence of the police over its handling of the tragedy.
Faced with the worst crimes on its territory since World War II, many in Norway have been dismayed by the prospect that the perpetrator could serve just 21 years behind bars -- the maximum sentence allowed for the terrorism charges that Behring Breivik currently faces.
But prosecutor Christian Hatlo told the Aftenposten newspaper that police are now envisaging charging him with crimes against humanity for the bombing of Oslo's government district and a shooting bloodbath on a nearby island.
"Police have so far cited... the law on terrorism but seeking other charges has not been excluded," police spokesman Sturla Henreiksboe told AFP.
"No final decision has yet been taken," he said.
Behring Breivik admitted carrying out the attacks at his first court appearance on Monday when he was remanded in custody for eight weeks.
He says he was on a Crusade to save Norway and Western Europe from a Muslim invasion and that the attacks targeting the Labour Party-led government and its youth wing were "cruel" but "necessary".
Police said they would start releasing the names of those killed, many of them children, at 6.00 pm (1600 GMT) on Tuesday.
The police have come in for heavy criticism over the time it took them to reach Utoeya island where Behring Breivik shot dead 68 of his victims in a spree that lasted around 90 minutes.
It also emerged on Monday that police investigated Behring Breivik in March for a purchase of chemicals, but the probe was dropped.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Norway's Justice Minister Knut Storberget rejected criticism of a delay in police getting to the Utoeya island, saying the force had "delivered extremely well" with "fantastic" work.
The manifesto saw Behring Breivik boast that he was one of up to 80 "solo martyr cells" recruited across Western Europe to topple governments tolerant of Islam.
Police are probing his claim that he is part of a network with more active cells.
Lippestad said that one of the reasons Behring Breivik's first court appearance on Monday was behind closed doors was for fear he would send coded signals to other cells.
His client was disappointed that the hearing was not open to the public, Lippestad added.
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