Smirking killer Breivik pleads not guilty

The Norwegian far-right gunman who massacred 77 people last summer gave a clenched-fist salute, smirked at the court, and pleaded not guilty on the first day of a trial that threatens to turn into a “circus” showcasing his anti-Islamic views.

Anders Behring Breivik, aged 33, has said he acted in defence of his country by setting off a car bomb that killed eight people at government headquarters in Oslo last July, then killing another 69 people in a shooting spree at a youth summer camp organised by the ruling Labour Party.

The trial will turn on whether Breivik is found guilty or insane. While he risks being jailed for the rest of his life, the high school dropout has said being labelled insane would be a “fate worse than death”.