Man sets himself on fire, tries to enter Breivik courtroom

A man has set himself on fire in Oslo outside a court hearing the case of notorious gunman Anders Breivik. The man was taken away in ambulance after the fire was extinguished by police.

The incident happened near the security examination point as a man, allegedly a Norwegian national, tried to enter the court building.

The man doused himself with some flammable liquid from a coke bottle, witnesses say. Police poured several bottles of water on him to extinguish the flames.

He screamed in pain as police stripped him of his burning clothes. Police says he shouted nothing about Breivik, Norwegian Dagbladet.no reports. The report suggests the man was shouting “shoot me, shoot me!”

The man is now in Oslo University Hospital with serious injuries. The individual’s identity and motive were not immediately clear.

So far the investigators believe the incident may not even be connected to the trial of right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik. 

“One would think there is one connection or another but we don’t have any information on that,” Police operations leader Finn Belle said.

Anders Breivik was behind a killing spree that claimed 69 lives at Utoya youth camp last July. He also detonated a bomb near the government headquarters in Oslo, killing eight people. He has admitted to the crimes, showing no remorse and claiming he carried out the attacks in self-defense, in a bid to protect Norway from multiculturalism and “Muslim invasion.”

The court is set to determine whether Breivik is sane enough to face prison sentence of up to 21 years. If declared insane, he would be kept in a psychiatric clinic for as long as the doctors consider him ill.

Medical personnel evacuate a man who set himself on fire outside the courthouse where Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is on trial for murdering 77 people last July, in Olso May 15, 2012 (Reuters/Berit Roald/NTB Scanpix)
Medical personnel evacuate a man who set himself on fire outside the courthouse where Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is on trial for murdering 77 people last July, in Olso May 15, 2012 (Reuters/Berit Roald/NTB Scanpix)

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