Murderer who sued the state saying “Prison is too harsh”

He killed 77 people in a double attack and now, after more than a decade in prison, he wants an end to isolation. On January 8, Anders Behring Breivik, the far-right fanatic responsible for the “Utoya massacre” in Norway, requested the court to end solitary confinement on the grounds that it would violate human rights. The killer is also suing the state to lift restrictions on his correspondence with the outside world. State lawyers oppose those demands, saying he remains a danger to society and a possible inspiration for other right-wing extremists.

Massacre

Anders Behring Breivik first killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo in 2011, then went to the island of Utoya and killed 69 more people, most of whom were young people gathered at the Socialist Party youth camp. The aim was to root out the Labor Party, which was based on hatred of immigrants and the multicultural policy promoted by the left. Before his attacks, Breivik, now 44, had emailed copies of a fictional white supremacist manifesto to expose his theories. The incident is considered the worst atrocity to occur in Norway during peacetime. The case shook the entire country, creating fear and confusion. It has even undermined the principles of rehabilitation that are considered a pillar of the Scandinavian country’s justice and prison system. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison in 2012 on the grounds that he was “of sound mind”. The xenophobic murderer appeared in the courtroom with his right fist raised and smiled when the verdict was read.

Insulation conditions

Breivik is currently being held in a section of the Ringerike maximum security prison, 70 km northwest of Oslo. This is the third prison he has been held in. As NTB news agency cameras confirmed last month, he has an entire private area at his disposal, consisting of a training room, kitchen, TV room and bathroom. He is also allowed to keep three budgies that fly freely in the area as pets. Prolonged solitary confinement lasting more than a decade “without meaningful interactions” would have a devastating effect on Breivik, according to his lawyer. “He is now suicidal,” lawyer Oeystein Storrvik wrote, adding that the killer was dependent on the antidepressant drug Prozac to get through his prison days.

Risk of contact with the far right

Lawyers representing the Department of Justice disagreed, arguing that the man posed a threat to security and should therefore be kept separate from other people in prison. They also objected to the level of isolation, calling it “relative” because Breivik continued to be in contact with guards, a priest, medical workers and, until recently, an outside volunteer whom the prisoner no longer wanted to see. He has the opportunity to see two other inmates for an hour every two weeks. His contacts with the outside world are also monitored, given the ideological nature of his murders, which, according to lawyers, poses a risk of inciting other people to violent acts. “This is especially true for contacts with far-right circles, including those seeking to establish relations with Breivik following the terrorist acts of July 22, 2011,” the document says. The man has been cited as an inspiration for Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019.

extendable sentence

Breivik’s sentence is relatively short. His overall sentence is 21 years, the longest a Norwegian court can impose, although in his case it could be extended as long as he was considered a threat to society. Knut Mellingsaeter Soerensen, an associate professor at the Norwegian Police University and a doctoral author on Breivik’s conditions in his first prison from 2011 to 2013, told local media: “What is unique is how long he was in solitary confinement.” “It answered the question of when security measures should be eased in order to actually have contact with other detainees, regarding a person who has demonstrated the intention and capacity to carry out a terrorist attack and has made long-term planning for this,” the professor said. This is not the first case Breivik has filed against Norway He had already done so in 2016, arguing that the state had violated the European Convention on Human Rights, citing the ban on subjecting “torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. He initially won the case, but on appeal a year later, the decision was overturned, before all restrictions were lifted. The hearing of this new case is being held in the prison gymnasium on the shores of Lake Tyrijorden, where the island of Utoya is located where Breivik was shot. The judge’s decision will be announced in the coming weeks.