Anders Breivik's trial will only vindicate Norway's liberal legal system

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/17/anders-breivik-trial-norway-legal-system

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This week Anders Behring Breivik has begun to explain his actions of 22 July 2011. Not since the end of the second world war has a European nation had to deal with such monstrous acts and statements. One out of four Norwegians knew, or knew of, one or more of the victims. They are around every dinner table, in every school and lunch room, on the bus and on the television. I was lucky. Most of my friends and acquaintances came back from that fateful day. Two never returned.

With such strong emotions in a close-knit community, this will be an extraordinary test of Norway as a nation and the quality of the Norwegian legal system. Much has been said about how Norway reacted as a nation in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, but in 10 weeks we will know what this nation is really made of.

The first challenge is to accept that no punishment can ever fit the crime. Some have called for changes in the legal system to allow for longer prison sentences or even death, but even if those had been real possibilities no punishment in the world is ever going to feel enough. Others have reacted strongly to pictures of the terrorist smiling and giving extremist salutes in the courtroom, pointing out that he is getting exactly the kind of attention he wants.

We should be outraged by the ideas that motivate him, but if we deny him the chance of explaining himself in an open court, we let the essence of those ideas, oppression and intolerance, dominate us. Although my heart is filled with anger, fear and sorrow, I am glad the Norwegian legal system treats everyone the same and is not subject to popular opinion. Its objective rules are there to deliver justice when emotions get the better of us. If Norwegians can hold on to that, they have already won a great victory.

The second challenge is to remain true to the values of Norwegian society. It is easy to be sympathetic to demands for stronger censorship, policy controls and online surveillance. Many will suggest that Breivik could have been stopped if only we had adopted some measure or other. But such doubts must not be allowed to change Norway. Even more important than the terrorist's right to speak in court is that the right of opinion and right of organisation keep forming the core of our free society. Right of opinion, the heart of freedom of speech, also includes right of privacy and anonymity.

Extremism of any creed is not fuelled by those who speak in public, but by those who feel that no one speaks for them at all. There must be room for even the dark sides of human nature if Norway is to remain Norway. Only then can Norwegians emerge on the other side of this challenge as a greater and stronger people than they were before.

The third and last challenge is to see and accept one another. The Utøya killings were a tragedy that has touched those who were there, their families and their friends, but it has also touched all those who didn't know anyone but still shed tears when they think no one is watching. Understanding that this is a pain and a trauma that not everyone will handle the same way or with the same composure is key to helping each other move on. Norwegians and foreigners alike will make mistakes and as individuals we will overstep, but if we are forgiving in our dealings with others, we will slowly find that we do have the strength to get through this together.

Over the next 10 weeks the terrorist who took so many innocent lives will get the chance to explain himself, to question his witnesses and to look into the eyes of the world while stating that he has no regret and only wish he had killed more. At the end of those 10 weeks a just legal system will pass its verdict and he will disappear into the books of history as nothing more than a reminder of all those we have lost. They will never disappear and it's for them that Norwegians now need to pass the test that lies before them.

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