Prosecutors want Norway killer be ruled insane

Oslo, June 22 (IANS) Prosecutors in Norway have called for self-confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik to be considered insane.

Breivik killed 77 people and injured 242 last July. He bombed government buildings in Oslo before shooting young Labour Party supporters at an island camp. He has sought to justify his attacks, saying they were necessary to prevent Norway's "Islamisation", BBC reported.

On Thursday, prosecutor Svein Holden, in the closing argument at Breivik's trial said there were still doubts about his insanity but he should be placed in psychiatric care instead of being sent to prison.

Breivik, however, insists he is sane.

Judges in the trial in Oslo are due to deliver their verdict in the trial in July or August. The defence concludes Friday.

"We are not convinced or certain that Breivik is legally insane but we are in doubt," said Holden. "So we request that he is transferred to compulsory psychiatric care."

He said it was worse to sentence a psychotic person to prison than to place a non-psychotic person in psychiatric care.

Prior to the trial, the court commissioned psychiatrists had found Breivik to be insane, suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, and therefore not responsible for his actions. It caused an uproar in Norway.

The court ordered a second opinion which found Breivik sane, as did a number of other psychiatrists who had observed him in detention and in court

Breivik gave a clenched-fist salute with his right arm before being led out of the courtroom Thursday. His lawyers are likely to reject the insanity finding when they sum up Friday, the last scheduled day of the 10-week trial.