Post date: Apr 16, 2012 10:16:55 AM
Survivor of Utoeya says trial against Anders Behring Breivik will be difficult but important.
OSLO, NORWAY (APRIL 16, 2012) (REUTERS) - As the trial of Norwegian mass murderer got underway on Monday (April 16), a survivor of the attacks said the ten-week trial would be difficult for many but also very important.
Breivik, 33, has admitted setting off a car bomb that killed eight people at government headquarters in Oslo, then massacring 69 in a shooting spree at an island summer camp for Labour Party youths. Vegard Groslie Wennesland who was at the camp on Utoeya island saw many friends get killed but was himself unhurt.
"Today the trial starts. It will be a difficult time for many. But also a very important time. Today the trial will start and we will get all the details from what happened and the motive behind the attack on the twenty-second of July. But it is also important that the justice
system works and that we can prove that in the next ten weeks," Wennesland said.
He said it would be difficult to see the man whom he last saw in person killing his friends.
"I am a bit concerned. I haven't seen him before. I haven't been to the court meetings before but I am sure it will be okay. But it is tough. Last time I saw him in person, I saw him shoot and kill my friends. So it is tough but it is also important to get through it," Wennesland said.
He said the months since the attacks had been difficult and that he did not know how he would react.
"It is hard to know how to but I think I have done as good as I can. I have talked to my lawyers, I have talked to my psychologists, talked to friends, family... And I will use them for support but to be honest and do not think anyone knows how they will react. Because we have not seen
anything like this before. But hopefully we will use each other as friends and family and we will get through it," he said.