Mattias Gardell, a professor of Religious Studies at Uppsala University in Sweden was the first to take the stand.

Gardell’s testimony is one of the longest seen in the trial so far. In it he tells the court that he is not there to defend Breivik’s political views but explain how those sorts of ideas can occur.

During his time addressing the court Gardell used pictures to illustrate his explanations.

After a break in proceedings, defence lawyer Geir Lippestad asked what the role of the Internet in causing radicalisation, questioning Gardell.

Gardell said that it was a place for people to gather and had the main function of sharing information.

In the afternoon researcher Nikolai Brandal took over from Gardell telling the court that he sees two types of terrorists. Those that wish to create a new society and those that wish to restore an old one.

Brandal also told the court how he believes there are four stages of radicalisation. The first stage he said is splitting e.g. the black and white or good and bad. The second stage he sees as fanaticism and replacing a small ego with one much bigger.

The third stage of radicalisation is the creation of an ideology to process hatred. Finally, Brandal described the fourth stage as being action, and not stopping with that action until a goal is achieved.

After Brandal spoke to the court Breivik also returned to the witness stand preparing to describe his own radicalisation to the court.

His defence asked him to describe events from his childhood onwards. Breivik goes through a list of almost 20 different incidents involving Muslims.

These included his bike being broken when he was seven, to having his nose broken and being chased through a cemetery by a group. Breivik also claims that he knows three girls who have been raped.

After being asked by Lippestad to describe his radicalisation, Breivik claimed that he would not have come into contact with other right wing radicals without the Internet. He also said that most of his manifesto was taken from online sources.

Referring to Mattias Gardell’s testimony that he believed Breivik’s manifesto to be plagiarised from the manifesto of Unabomber Ted Kaczinski, Breivik told the court that he decided to isolate himself in 2006, and instead began only to interact through the Internet.

Prosecutor Svein Holden also questioned Breivik about his alleged 2002 trip to Liberia and meetings with Alpha Kallon, a man who he met there and paid 40,000 kroner for diamonds. Breivik refused to answer.

Holden believes it is desirable to speak to Kallon about the meetings Breivik supposedly had with him.

The court was adjourned for the day after these questions.

In one notable incident under today’s proceedings, one of the lay judges was seen playing solitaire during the time professor Gardell was addressing the court.

Lawyer Harald Stabell told NRK “It is possible to sit and play a little solitaire for a few minutes while maintaining focus on what the witness is saying.”

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