Treat Breivik humanely

A new psychiatric report presented on Tuesday concludes that the Norwegian attacker Anders Behring Breivik is not criminally insane, contradicting an earlier report. But no assessment can give a definitive answer, because heinous crimes always verge on pure insanity, writes the Catholic daily Avvenire before the start of Breivik's trial on April 16: "Can someone who commits such an inhuman and condemnable crime really be declared of sound mind? ... No one pities Breivik. His attacks seem too perfectly planned, his lunatic motives too well thought-out. ... Nevertheless the dictates of humane behaviour tell us it is unjust to condemn someone who is not in full possession of his mental powers, and thus not fully responsible for his actions. This is a fine line, and external factors will always play a major part. Nevertheless we must not lose sight of the principle of humaneness."

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