My thoughts on the matter
The first week of the trail against the Norwegian terrorist has begun and it's been stirring up all the emotions that came crashing down on July 22 2011.
There are a few Norwegians at the office and our fellow colleagues have therefore taken a personal interest in the case and the discussions are many. Apart from the obvious sheer disbelief over the whole thing, there is one question that is raised a lot: "Do you wish Norway had the death penalty in a case like this?"
According to Wikipedia, the death penalty in Norway was from 1902 not active during peace times and was re-introduced with Vidkun Quisling's regime during the Nazi occupation. Ironically he was one of the last people to receive the death penalty in Norway in the after math of the war. The last execution took place in 1948 and the death penalty was completely abolished in 1979.
I have always opposed the death penalty. The one huge issue I have with it is that I don't think anyone should be able to decide over life and death over another person. Killing a murderer makes you no different from the murderer on trial. The idea behind the death penalty appears to me as a petty form for retaliation. Infantile almost.
Would I shed a tear the day the terrorist dies? That is a whole different question, but I can tell you this much: If he was executed in accordance with Norwegian law, I would cry. I would cry because it would elevate him to a martyr. He is many things, but a martyr is not one of them. The best thing we (and I say "we" as a part of the human society) can do is to give him a fair trial. That is democracy. He tried to crush our democracy and it would be a tragedy to let him accomplish that.
We are not like him.
