The Norway gunmen who killed 77 people last July pleaded not guilty on Monday as his trial opened.

The Norway gunmen who killed 77 people last July pleaded not guilty on Monday as his trial opened.

While families of the victims fought back tears, Anders Behring Breivik showed little emotion and sat stony-faced as the court heard chilling details of the July 22 killings in downtown Oslo and at a summer camp in the idyllic Utoeya Island.
"I acknowledge the acts, but not criminal guilt and I claim legitimate defense," the right-wing extremist, who is accused of acts of terror, told the court.

Lead judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen opened the proceedings, which are expected to last 10 weeks, till July when they will hand down their verdict and focus primarily on whether Breivik is “sane” and should be sent to prison or a psychiatric ward.

Breivik told the judges he did not recognize their legitimacy.
"I do not recognize the Norwegian court," he said.

Prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh told the court that in the attack “there was panic and fear of death among children and adults”.
"He shot at people who were fleeing or hiding, or who he lured out by saying he was a policeman," noting that most of the 69 dead were killed by bullets to the head.

Most of the shooting victims were teenagers -- 56 of them were under the age of 20 and the youngest victim had just celebrated his 14th birthday, she said.

Last week, a new psychiatric probe done by Oslo district court stated that Breivik was not insane, adding he was criminally responsible for the crime he had committed.

In the 1,500-page manifesto he posted online shortly before the July attacks, Breivik described the attack as "the clenched fist salute" of the Knights Templar organization, of which he claims to be a member but which the prosecution later argued does not exist.

Breivik has previously described his actions as "cruel but necessary" and claims he acted alone and in self-defence against those he considered to be "state traitors" for opening Norway up to multiculturalism and allowing the "Muslim invasion" of Europe.

He faces either 21 years in prison -- a sentence that could thereafter be extended indefinitely if he is still considered a threat to society -- or closed psychiatric care, possibly for life.

He wants to be found sane and accountable for his actions so that his anti-Islam ideology, as presented in his manifesto, will be taken "seriously and not considered the ravings of a lunatic".
Breivik has said that court-ordered psychiatric care would be "worse than death".