Breivik trial: Survivor likens killer to Voldemort

Breivik admits shooting dead 69 people on Utoeya

A young Norwegian wounded on the island of Utoeya has likened Anders Behring Breivik to Voldemort, a villain in the Harry Potter novels.

Tarjei Jensen Bech, 20, told Breivik's trial he had seen him shoot three people, then heard him approaching as he and a girl hid on a cliff ledge.

He was then shot in the legs, falling down the cliff.

Another survivor, Ylva Helene Schwenke, called Breivik a coward for shooting her, then 14, in the back.

The court in the Norwegian capital Oslo was hearing evidence on the 23rd day of the trial.

Breivik is charged with murdering 69 people on Utoeya, and eight in Oslo, on 22 July last year.

If he is convicted and the court decides he is criminally insane, the 33-year-old Norwegian will be committed to psychiatric care.

If he is judged to be mentally stable, he will be jailed.

Breivik admits the attacks, arguing they were necessary to end multiculturalism and prevent a "Muslim invasion" of Norway and Europe.

Seven operations

Mr Jensen Bech, who wiped his eyes at times and had difficulty speaking, described how he had heard screams before seeing a person fall after being shot 10m (yds) away.

He said he had then seen Breivik walk up and shoot the victim in the head.

Running away, he saw Breivik shoot another person.

Taking cover on the cliff ledge with a girl, he saw a third person, also a girl, being shot.

"We [heard] him walking and breathing and hissing - I thought it was like Voldemort in Harry Potter," he said.

He fell between 10 and 15m down the cliff, where other survivors tried to help him before a rescue boat arrived.

In court on Wednesday, he drew laughter when he recalled how a girl had tried to keep him awake as he lay bleeding, asking him five times the name of his cat, Klumpen.

Breivik laughed too at the mention of the cat, and smiled at being compared to Voldemort, according to Norwegian journalist Trygve Sorvaag.

Otherwise he showed little sign of emotion.

Mr Jensen Bech, whose face was also badly injured, has undergone seven operations on his legs.

"I like to say I've had more operations than Michael Jackson," he told the court, according to AFP journalist Pierre Deshayes.

'Cowardly little man'

Ylva Helene Schwenke, who is now 15, described for reporters how Breivik had shot her in the neck and then several more times as she lay bleeding.

"He is a cowardly little man, really," she told reporters after her testimony.

"He shoots a 14-year old girl from behind, then shoots me twice in the leg. That's the most cowardly thing I've ever heard."

In court, she showed the extensive scars that still cover much of her body.

"I have no problem showing my scars," she said.

"I look at them as a symbol of victory. We have to pay a price for democracy but we won."

Another survivor, 18-year-old Andrine Johansen, told how a boy, Henrik Rasmussen, had thrown himself in the way of bullets meant to kill her.

Ms Johansen still has part of a bullet in her body, too dangerous to remove as it is near her spinal cord.