 |
| Thousands gathered in Oslo to sing the song, including singer Lillebjoern Nilsen |
Norway
Attacks
Some 40,000
people have gathered on an Oslo square to sing a popular peace song which mass
killer Anders Behring Breivik condemned at his trial.
The
right-wing extremist had accused the singer of Children Of The Rainbow,
Lillebjoern Nilsen, of being a Marxist who sought to brainwash children.
Nilsen led
the crowd on Thursday in singing the song on Youngstorget Square, close to the
courthouse.
Inside, the
trial heard testimony from survivors of the Oslo bomb attack.
It is the
ninth day of Breivik's trial for the killing of eight people in Oslo and 69 on
the island of Utoeya, as well as the wounding of more than 200 others.
He admits
the attacks on 22 July last year but denies guilt or insanity.
The
five-strong panel of judges at Breivik's trial will make a ruling on his sanity
at the verdict in July.
Breivik may
eventually face a term of 21 years in jail, which could be extended if he is
thought to be a continuing danger to society.
He says he
launched his attacks to defend Norway from multiculturalism, and Muslim
immigration in particular.
Song event
 |
| Lillebjoern Nilsen led the crowd |
In court
last Friday, Breivik attacked Norway's educational system and singled out
Nilsen as a "good example of a Marxist who infiltrated the cultural
sector, [who] writes music that is used to brainwash children".
On
Thursday, Nilsen led the singing in the square of Children Of The Rainbow, a
Norwegian version of US folk singer Pete Seeger's My Rainbow Race, which is an
anti-war song from his 1973 album of the same name.
Standing
under umbrellas in the rain, the crowd sang both the Norwegian and English
versions of the song.
Its lyrics
include the lines: "Some want to take the easy way/Poisons, bombs! They
think we need 'em./Don't they know you can't kill all the unbelievers./There's
no shortcut to freedom."
People also
gathered in other Norwegian towns to perform the song, with the event promoted
on social media.
"I
grew up with this song and have sung it to my child," said Lill
Hjoennevaag, one of the organisers of the demonstration.
"Everybody
I know feels strongly about this song and we need to take it back," she
told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
Singers
later headed to the courthouse where the trial was under way, to attach flowers
to the security barriers.
"Hopefully
they can all hear the song inside," Oslo blogger Fredrik Giertsen told the
BBC News website.
Ragnhild
Holmas, another Oslo blogger who joined the singers, remembered the mass
anti-violence rallies that followed the 22 July killings.
"Glad
to see that the love from last summer wasn't just a one-time thing," she
told the BBC News website.
While the
song might be Utopian, she said, "the message is far from cheesy. Breivik
thinks we're brainwashed anyway, but it's important to show our distance."
Battle to
recover
Harald
Fosker had to have surgery on his face as a result of the blast in the
government quarter, which killed eight people and injured 209 others.
Father of
Anne Helene Lund, who was injured by the Oslo bomb
Testifying
on Thursday, the justice ministry employee described the impact of the
explosion: "I only remember spitting out teeth.
"The
shock was so great that I did not feel pain there and then. That came the next
day."
The trial
heard in detail of the numerous operations he underwent as surgeons rebuilt his
face and worked to restore his hearing and vision.
He is now
back at work part-time and hopes to be fully employed again in time for the
first anniversary of the bombing.
Breivik
listened expressionless as the court heard other harrowing accounts of the
impact of the blast, correspondents say.
Anne Helene
Lund, 24, was just 7m (23ft) from the explosion, which left her in a coma for a
month.
 |
Breivik denies he is insane
|
When she
woke up she had lost her memory, unable to even remember the names of her
parents.
Her father,
Jan Erik Lund, fighting back tears, described seeing his daughter injured in
hospital: "It was like experiencing the worst and the best in the same
moment.
"It
was fantastic that she was alive, horrible that she was as injured as she
was."
Related Article:
'Tonight the streets are filled with love': Royal family and prime minister lead the nation in mourning as crowd of 150,000 gather in Oslo for 'rose march' tribute to Norway's dead
 |
Tribute:
Over 150,000 people gathered in Oslo to take part
in a 'rose march' vigil to
mourn the 76 people who were killed
on Friday's twin attacks
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.