NORWAY: Geir Lippestad's first reaction when asked to defend Anders Behring Breivik is 'No', but changes his mind when he remembers what his job as a lawyer is all about

Record ID: 530786

  • Title: NORWAY: Geir Lippestad's first reaction when asked to defend Anders Behring Breivik is 'No', but changes his mind when he remembers what his job as a lawyer is all about
  • Date: 27th March 2012
  • Summary: OSLO, NORWAY (FILE - FEBRUARY 6, 2012) (REUTERS) ANDERS BEHRING BREIVIK'S DEFENCE LAWYERS LIPPESTAD AND VIBEKE HEIN BAERA IN COURT
  • Embargoed: 11th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Norway, Norway
  • Country: Norway
  • Reuters ID: LVA5YV5YZ8H626X83LTZ6GOF8CVX
  • Story Text: Geir Lippestad was woken up by a phone call on the morning after the bomb attack on the government headquarters in Oslo and the shooting spree on Utoeya island in which 77 people were killed.
    It was the police who wanted to inform him that self-confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik had asked for him to be his defence lawyer.
    Lippestad, a member of Norway's ruling Labour party, the attack's chief target, said his first reaction had been to decline.
    "My first reaction was 'No, I don't want to do this, it's just too difficult'. I remember I woke up my wife, or she woke up by the same telephone call. She is a nurse, and she said that 'If he had arrived at the hospital with shot wounds, the doctors and nurses would have helped him, they'd do their job. You are a lawyer, so don't you want to do your job?' That made me think and I took some time but was convinced this is the right thing to do," he said.
    Lippestad thinks Breivik had not planned to ask him to defend him since Breivik later told him he had expected to be shot.
    Anders Behring Breivik, 33, admitted setting off a bomb at an Oslo government building before going on a shooting spree at Utoeya island 40 kilometres (25 miles) away, to punish "traitors" with immigrant-friendly attitudes.
    Breivik, claiming to be a military commander in a far-right resistance movement, sought to overthrow the government, which he said promoted muslim immigration to the detriment of pure Norwegian culture and Christianity.
    Lippestad was initially demonised for taking on the case, receiving threats and requiring a security detail in Oslo. But sentiment soon turned.
    He said that no matter how horrible a crime was, a defendant had to have someone looking out for his or her interest. He said it was "a vital brick in the wall of democracy" and that 99 per cent of Norwegians understood this.
    Apart from having to deal with the trauma of a whole nation, 47-year-old Lippestad has been struggling with personal tragedies.
    He said his family was used to crisis but that it had not been easy.
    "I live in a family with many children, and two of the children have a disability and one of them has been very ill for many years. So we're used to living through crises, and we're used to overcoming them and living life to the fullest. We live with a child who will unfortunately not live very long," he said.
    His 16-year-old daughter Rebekka has struggled for years with deteriorating health and earlier this year Lippestad faced the risk of losing her, just as his wife was expecting a baby.
    "For a long time I felt ashamed about having another child just when so many parents lost their own children," Lippestad said.
    Rebekka eventually pulled thorough but remains frail.
    Amid the fury and desperation after the attacks, loud voices argued that Norway's progressive justice system and open society had failed and needed to be rethought.
    But Lippestad said it was crucial the current legal system was not undermined.
    "It would be so easy to say 'This case is so cruel and difficult that this person shouldn't get the same rights as others.' But I think that because the core of democracy is put to a test, we have to stick to the legal system that we have," he said.
    On Monday (March 26) the Norwegian parliament will discuss a proposal of changes to the criminal injuries compensation act and the criminal procedure act, in relation to the incarceration of Breivik.
    Vibeke Hein Baera has known Lippestad for decades and their paths have crossed many times.
    The two worked together for years after having first met at university but then went separate ways before Lippestad asked her to join the Breivik team.
    She expressed an admiration of Lippestad, shared by many Norwegians.
    "He's the one who every day asks how we're doing and looking out for us, despite all the things that are going on in his life. He has a marvellous leader," she said.
    "I have seen him express feelings, but he's never angry, never shouting. …He is probably one of the world's most patient men," she added.
    Breivik's trial will start on April 16.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register