Norway relieved after Breivik gets 21 yrs for mass massacre

A court’s decision to sentence Anders Behring Breivik to between 10 and 21 years in prison for killing 77 people in Norway, and to say that he was sane when he did that as part of an anti-Muslim crusade, has been praised by many people, with some saying the ruling will allow them to begin to recover from the tragedy. Here are some of their reactions to Friday’s verdict. Per Anders Langerod, a survivor of the Utoya island shooting spree: “I actually want to visit him in his jail cell and yell at him … really hard for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, throw some plates on the floor, you know, show anger.” [caption id=“attachment_429628” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] “I don’t want to hurt him, but I want to explain to him how cruel it was. … But when someone tries to kill you, you get a problematic relationship with violence. I don’t want to hurt him because I have a problem with violence, now more than ever.” Tore Sindiing Bekkedal, another Utoya survivor: “I am very relieved and happy about the outcome. I believe he is mad, but it is political madness and not psychiatric madness. He is a pathetic and sad little person.” Per Balch Soerensen, father of Danish woman killed on Utoya: “Now we won’t hear about him for quite a while. Now we can have peace and quiet. He doesn’t mean anything to me. He is just air.” Bjoern Kasper Ilaug, rescue worker at Utoya: “The verdict is positive toward a situation where we can start … moving forward. That is very important. This has been a heavy burden for many people for 13 months.” Ali Esbati, Swedish survivor on Utoya: “It’s good that no legal doubts remain that he was responsible. It became clear during the legal proceedings that he knew what he was doing and that he stood for it.” “It’s not as oppressive in the courtroom today as it was during the court case. Many must feel that today marks a certain end to the process.” Sverr Bromander, chairman of Norwegian union of police prosecutors: “Mr. Breivik was sentenced to 21 years of detention today, which will mean that he will have to stay 21 years in jail. I think at least today most of the people are satisfied with that ruling. … He could be kept in detention for the rest of his life, if he is still considered a danger to the society.’ Christin Bjelland, mother of survivor and spokeswoman for victims’ association: “We asked and hoped for a unanimous verdict and we got that. So we are content. Also, we got the strictest verdict we can have according to Norwegian law, and that is another thing we wanted. We wanted dignity, we wanted everything to be formally right, and that is exactly what had happened.” Former Norwegian Justice Minister Knut Storberget: “The verdict is a milestone. It is the toughest sentence he could have got. Insofar as it ends the court case, it’s for the best.” IANS