Accused killer may face charges of crimes against humanity

OSLO - As many as 150,000 Norwegians poured onto Oslo's streets on Monday, raising a sea of flower-bearing hands into the air in memory of the 76 victims of last week's twin bombing and shooting attacks.

Norwegian television showed images of similar gatherings taking place in other cities across the country after a call for people to show solidarity with those killed in the massacre.

"Those who were in the government district and on Utoeya were targets for terror," Crown Prince Haakon told the vast crowd massed on the banks of the Norwegian capital's fjord after the car bombing of ministries and mass shooting of Labour Party youths on Utoeya Island.

"But it has affected us all," he said to applause.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg then addressed the crowd, in a city of 600,000 people, saying: "Evil can kill a person, but it cannot kill a people."

The mayor of Oslo, Fabian Stang, said: "We will punish the guilty. The punishment will be more generosity, more tolerance, more democracy."

Central Oslo streets were closed to traffic because of the vigil, which had originally been planned as a "flower march", but it was decided that people should stay in one place because of the large numbers turning up.

"We came out of solidarity, to all be together and share our pain," said Tone Mari Steinmoen, 36. "This is a time of important communion for our country."

"We're here to show that we're an open-spirited and respectful society," said Roy Kvatningen, 37, who came with his 6-year-old daughter.

The crowd is united in grief, but there is no visible sign of anger toward the self-confessed perpetrator Behring Breivik.

"We have no feelings about him. He's not our concern, we're here for our country, for the victims, for their families, not for him," said Benedicte Larodd, 26.

A police spokeswoman said there was no official estimate for the turnout but described the gathering as "gigantic".

Tougher sentence

Authorities considered on Tuesday charging Anders Behring Breivik with crimes against humanity over the massacre as the government leapt to the defense of the police over its handling of the tragedy.

Faced with the worst crimes on its territory since World War II, many in Norway have been dismayed by the prospect that the perpetrator could serve just 21 years behind bars - the maximum sentence allowed for the terrorism charges that Behring Breivik currently faces.

But prosecutor Christian Hatlo told the Aftenposten newspaper that police are now envisaging charging him with crimes against humanity for the massive killings.

"Police have so far cited ... the law on terrorism but seeking other charges has not been excluded," police spokesman Sturla Henreiksboe said.

"No final decision has yet been taken," he said.

Behring Breivik admitted carrying out the attacks at his first court appearance on Monday when he was remanded in custody for eight weeks.

The 32-year-old says he was on a Crusade to save Norway and Western Europe from a Muslim invasion and that the attacks targeting the Labour Party-led government and its youth wing were "cruel" but "necessary".

Police said they would start releasing the names of those killed, many of them children.

"The names of the victims will be progressively released, as the autopsies are completed and the families informed," Heinriksboe said.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 07/27/2011 page12)