by EVA FERNANDEZ ORTIZ
As Norway’s 32-year-old right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik looked out at a Norwegian public courtroom in Oslo, Tuesday, November 14, 2011, he made a formal statement before the court in an attempt to place himself at the head of a “resistance movement” against immigrants and multiculturalism in Norway.
In spite of Breivik’s attempt, Norway’s Court Judge Torkjell Nesheim stopped Breivik from completing his statement. Breivik’s court appearance was the first public one made since his arrest and confession to the killing of 77 people during his July 22, 2011 attack against pro-immigrant advocates inside Norway.
“My goal is that the hearing be carried out with dignity, not least out of consideration for the plaintiffs and survivors,” said Judge Nesheim in an interview with Norway’s daily newspaper, Dagens Naeringsliv, one day before the court date.
Before Breivik’s violent attack against Norway’s multiculturalism only one death and 13 injuries have taken place from politically based attacks in Norway since 1979.
To find out more about the immigrant experience in the country WNN (Women News Network) journalist Eva Fernández Ortiz talks with Norway-born music celebrity Deeyah, producer of the acclaimed album, ‘Listen to the Banned,’ and winner of the 2008 Artventure’s Freedom to Create Prize through a nomination by Freemuse — the only global organization dedicated to musicians’ and composers’ rights to “freedom of expression.” In 2011 Deeyah launched a searing and ongoing website – Memini (Remembrance) that acts as a memorial to immigrant women worldwide who have died from honour violence.
Identifying herself as a Norwegian who grew up inside Norway but “currently lives outside the country,” Deeyah comes from a diverse Sunni Muslim background with Punjabi/Pahtun parents — which includes a mother and father who are both first generation immigrants to Norway. Her family heritage spans generations with a proud cultural background that is a mixture of Persian, Afghan, as well as Pakistani descent.
Deeyah’s album “…is a collection of songs from artists around the world who have faced censorship or had their music banned.”
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