Attorneys and court officials involved in the upcoming trial of confessed terrorist Anders Behring Breivik have agreed that the trial should get underway before next summer. Its venue remains unclear.
“We hope to conduct the trial before July 1 next year,” Breivik’s defense attorney, Geir Lippestad, told reporters. He also thinks it’s important that the trial be open to the public, even though many of the pre-trial hearings have been held behind closed doors.
The massive public interest in the trial has raised questions about where it should be held, since courtrooms at the Oslo courthouse likely won’t be able to accommodate the public and press. Prosecutors, defense counsel and attorneys for survivors and their families, however, ruled out holding the trial in large public venues such as Oslo Spektrum or Telenor Arena. They didn’t think such locations normally used for entertainment would be appropriate for such a serious trial of the man charged with bombing government headquarters, shooting scores of Labour Party summer campers and murdering 77 persons in the process.
It also remains unclear how long the trial will last. Most estimates call for between one month at the least and six months at the most.
Views and News staff
