Witness tells of Breivik's island arrival

2012-05-03 11:59

Oslo - A witness in the trial of Anders Behring Breivik, who is charged with the attacks in Norway that left 77 people dead, on Thursday testified how he had allowed him to board a ferry to the island where 69 of the victims were gunned down.

The 33-year-old Breivik has admitted to carrying out the bomb attack in Oslo and the shooting on the island of Utoya on 22 July but pleaded not guilty.

Simen Braenden Mortensen was serving as a security guard, stationed on the quay that links the mainland to the island of Utoya at the time.

"I remember I reacted when he arrived in a little van," Mortensen said. "He was very calm and I noticed he had pistol strapped to his thigh."

He said Breivik, who was wearing a fake police identification tag, told him he had been assigned to secure the island in the aftermath of the bombing that targeted government offices in Oslo.

Mortensen said he heard gunshots shortly after the ferry carrying Breivik arrived at the island about 650m from the mainland.

The court has earlier heard testimony that the manager of the island and an off-duty police officer acting as a security guard at a summer camp for Labour Party youth were the first victims.

The captain of the ferry, police crime scene technicians and survivors are among those called to the witness stand in the trial, which opened on 16 April.

- SAPA