Prison psychiatrists monitoring Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik say he is not psychotic and he has not been put on medication, a prosecutor said.
The claims made in a court document have added fuel to calls to reassess whether he is legally insane.
The original finding by two court-appointed psychiatrists has been fiercely debated by mental-health experts. Several lawyers representing the victims of the massacre that rocked Norway over the summer have demanded the Oslo District Court order a second evaluation.
But prosecutor Svein Holden said in a letter to the court that despite the new information he would not seek another evaluation.
Mr Breivik has recently been given access to media in prison and could try to manipulate new experts in ways that would be favourable to him, he said.
Prosecutors say they would rather let experts testify at the upcoming trial.
Mr Breivik, 32, has confessed to setting off a bomb that ripped through Oslo’s government district on July 22, killing eight people, then opening fire at the summer camp of the governing Labour Party’s youth wing, killing another 69.
The November 29 finding by two psychiatrists said Mr Breivik was insane during the bomb-and-shooting rampage.
In that report, the psychiatrists, who spent 36 hours talking to Mr Breivik, described him as a man living in a “delusional universe” – a paranoid schizophrenic who had lost touch with reality.
However, in his letter to the court, Mr Holden says four psychiatrists at Ila prison in Oslo, where Mr Breivik is held in pre-trial detention, informed him they have not observed any signs that he is psychotic.
The prison has not started medication of Breivik or seen any need to move him to another facility, Mr Holden added.
The deadline for parties to file their demands is today and the court will decide some time next week whether a new evaluation should be made, court spokesman Geir Engebretsen said.
The trial is set to begin on April 16. If declared mentally fit and convicted of terrorism, Breivik would face up to 21 years in prison or an alternative custody arrangement that could keep him behind bars indefinitely.
If the courts declare him insane, he would be given three-year terms of psychiatric care that can be extended for as long as necessary.
How the terror attacks unfolded
• The attacks were two sequential terrorist attacks against the government, the civilian population and a summer camp in Norway on July 22, 2011.
• The first was a car bomb explosion in Oslo within Regjeringskvartalet, the executive government quarter of Norway, at 3.25 p.m. The car bomb was placed outside the office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and other government buildings. The explosion killed eight people and wounded several others, with more than 10 people critically injured.
• The second attack occurred less than two hours later at a summer camp on the island of Utoya in Tyrifjorden, Buskerud. The camp was organised by AUF, the youth division of the ruling Norwegian Labour Party.
• Anders Behring Breivik, 32, dressed in an authentic-looking police uniform and showing false identification, gained access to the island and subsequently opened fire at the participants, killing 69 attendees, including personal friends of Prime Minister Stoltenberg and the stepbrother of Norway’s crown princess Mette-Marit.
• This was the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II.
• The Norwegian Police Service arrested Mr Breivik, Norwegian right-wing extremist and charged him with both attacks.
• The European Union, Nato and several countries around the world expressed their support for Norway and condemned the attacks.