A lawsuit launched by far-right fanatic and mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik accusing the state of abusing his human rights has opened in Norway.
Breivik, who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage in 2011, appeared in a court set up in the high-security jail in which he is serving his sentence on Monday. By accusing Norway’s Ministry of Justice of breaching his human rights, he hopes to force the authorities to end his years in isolation.
The 44-year-old killer’s lawyer laid out an argument that the conditions of his detention violated his human rights.
“He has been isolated for about 12 years,” Oeystein Storrvik told the hearing. “He is only in contact with professionals, not with other inmates.”
In earlier court filings, Storrvik had argued the isolation had left Breivik suicidal and dependent on the anti-depression medication Prozac.
Breivik claims the isolation he has faced since he started serving his prison sentence in 2012 amounts to inhumane punishment under the European Convention on Human Rights. He failed in a similar attempt in 2016 -17, when his appeal was denied by the European Court of Justice.
The extremist, who distributed copies of a manifesto before his attack, is suing the state and also asking the court to lift restrictions on his correspondence with the outside world.
He killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo then gunned down 69 others, most of them teenagers, at a Labour Party youth camp. It was Norway’s worst peacetime atrocity.
Breivik spends his time in a dedicated section of Ringerike prison, the third prison in which he has been held. His separated section includes a training room, a kitchen, a TV room and a bathroom, pictures from a visit last month by news agency NTB showed.
He is allowed to keep three budgerigars as pets and let them fly freely in the area, NTB reported.
read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/8/far-right-mass-killer-breivik-sues-norway-for-human-rights-abuse
Cool. It is his right to do so.
Given the fairly decent conditions he's reported to be living in, and Norway's efforts to give him every avenue to rehabilitate, I very much doubt this case will get very far.
As always, the only winners in pointless stuff like this are the solicitors and lawyers.
As always, the only winners in pointless stuff like this are the solicitors and lawyers.
I bet they hate this one, too. As a defense attorney this is basically your nightmare: someone who definitely committed a horrific crime and it's your job to make a frivolous appeal. And if you're on the other side this is the last case you want to fuck up.
As a defense attorney this is basically your nightmare
On the other hand, you get your name mentioned in the media, building upon your reputation as a "star lawyer". When people suddenly needs a defense attorney, your name will be one of the first they think of. You don't even have to do a good job because everyone expects your client to be guilty as fuck anyways.
Taking cases like this is definitely good for business.
Good point, plenty of defense attorneys are just in it for the money.
Yeah he did a Nazi salute before his most recent parole hearing and then was like I've learned to be a pacifist Nazi let me go please
“He has been isolated for about 12 years,” Oeystein Storrvik told the hearing. “He is only in contact with professionals, not with other inmates.”
Depending on the extent of the isolation he might actually have a case. Being deprived of human contact is extremely unhealthy.
Just execute him if he's going to basically be in solitary for the rest of his life. It'd be more humane.
He's not isolated, he's with staff all day long. They talk to him and play Xbox with him.
It doesn't sound like he's with staff all day long. Is that really how it is? Cuz yeah, that's not isolation lol
Yes I've met the guy in charge of the staff that are with him. 5 staff that rotate every 6 months.
What do you mean by "with him"? If they're just watching him through cameras and bringing meals to a door slot that's still isolation.
If true, I don't think he really has a case. True solitary confinement, like we have in the US, is inhumane torture where you start hallucinating because you don't see another human being for days at a time (at minimum they kick in after 72 hours iirc)
If he's interacting with people, that's not solitary. That's just normal loneliness. Plenty of people don't have friends, it's sadly normal.
I've been in a lot of state and federal prisons in the US and I've never seen what you describe. The only inmates that are left alone in cells for days at a time are so extraordinarily violent that they can't be let out without someone getting hurt. Even they have interaction with health and security staff, but it's through a window.
Disciplinary segregation in every prison I've been in usually have two people to a cell whenever possible (which results in much lower suicide risk) and they're let out several hours a day if they're safe to do so. They can and do talk to people in adjacent cells all day long.
It's still fucking miserable, but it's not what you think.
In Norway, they get much more out of cell time in segregation as long as they're safe. There are people that are only let out of cell alone, if they're really violent.
- Being placed in solitary confinement for 72 consecutive hours when they arrive — only being released from their cells for a few minutes to shower;
- Being locked in their cells at times for over 23 hours for punishment, only let out to shower in handcuffs and shackles; and
- Being handcuffed and shackled as punishment when they are occasionally allowed to go outside for recreation time.
Just execute him if he’s going to basically be in solitary for the rest of his life. It’d be more humane.
No I agree, really, they should let him meet the relatives of the 77 people he killed.
All of them.
At once.
Your sadism is noted, but killing people is bad for you. For the relatives sake they probably shouldn't be allowed to do that lol
Your sadism is noted
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law
The point is that as as someone else also pointed out he's not alone, just there is a difference between the people who he is allowed to meet and those he'd like to meet. That is an integral feature about being jailed as opposed to walking free, and in his case there is a good reason for that.
Of course I wish he too could be one day reintegrated into the society, and the Norway jail system is mile ahead of most any other country in this, especially the US, but from his requests from the article this doesn't seems the case yet, at all.
No one is talking about letting him free? We're talking about him allegedly living in isolation for 12 years. That's fucked up (if true, based on another poster's first-hand knowledge he is surrounded by staff all the time so it's not really solitary confinement)
That point doesn't matter in these jurisdictions (i.e. Western European ones I am aware of) . Confinement has two reasons and two only: rehabilitation and protection of the public. Revenge doesn't have a place there. In my opinion rightfully so because the need for revenge is utterly subjective which laws need to avoid.
For example: I would see it as appropriate to nail this bastard on a wall by his balls. BUT I'm aware that this is mainly due to the publicity he got. How would I standardize ball nailing? How much would a shoplifter get? 1/4 of a testicle for half a day? And what would be the equivalent to criminals without scrotum?
But jokes aside: revenge can't take place via public court. And I'm not informed about civil court mechanics in Norway.
Bonus: human rights apply to every single human. Each of them. And you can't lose them. If that's a good idea I'll leave to each one to decide.
For example: I would see it as appropriate to nail this bastard on a wall by his balls.
well at least we can agree on this. and nothing else.
How would I standardize ball nailing?
how about "every nazi child killer gets cock crucified and everyone else gets normal person jail"?
How much would a shoplifter get?
nothing, shoplifting is cool.
I don't care that he's suffering, but the fact that he is suffering still means his lawsuit has standing.
Also, like I said, if they're going to leave him in solitary his whole life they should just kill him.
I'm honestly surprised he's still alive. I know executions aren't legal in Norway, but I would have thought that someone would have killed him by now.
He's alive and he got sentenced 21 years which was the maximum sentence, I'm not familiar with Norwegian law enough, but I assume they will somehow extend it when it expires in the 2030s, don't see how someone like this could be trusted to not do something else comparable especially since he has basically shown no remorse for his actions.
from a quora search
He's going to be in prison the full 21 years. After this, there will be a parole review, where they can decide to hold him for a further 5 years. After that 5 years, the same thing will happen again and again and again.
https://www.quora.com/Is-there-any-chance-that-Anders-Breivik-will-ever-be-released
Noggie here. He wasn't sentenced to 21 years in prison (which is, as you state, the maximum prison sentence here), but something that I think best can be translated to "21 years of detention/containment" which is more of a healthcare/psych approach. While this usually involves prison as well, unlike a normal prison sentence, this can be extended to however long is deemed necessary with no maximum duration.
Let him rot.
yeah okay 12 years of solitary is pretty bad, though amenities are better in norwegian prisons than elsewhere. they should probably put him with other prisoners or release him, he'll probably get killed pretty quick but if that's what he wants...
Being a child killer among other people that have committed murders but still have some principles is usually not good. Not to mention being like THE child killer in Norway not just any child killer.
I'm British, THE child killer here would've been Myra Hindley, would I have killed her in prison? Yes. Yes I would. I'm pretty sure there's some fairly rough guys in there that would not take kindly to a person that slaughtered 69 kids one by one by one at a fucking summer camp.
So many good future socialists died that day. I completely guarantee someone kills the fucker if he is mixed in with everyone.
Not really sure why you think Norwegians are ontologically predisposed to not want to kill child mass murderers tbh.
THE child killer here would've been Myra Hindley
She's the anti-mother, mommy is that you?
She's the anti-mother, mother, mother is that you?
It's Myra Hindley on the cover,
Your very own sweet anti-mother.
There she is on the pages of The Star,
Ain't that just the place you wish you were?
Let her rot in hell is what you said,
Let her rot, let her starve, you'd see her dead.
Let her out but don't forget to tell you where she is,
The chance to screw her is a chance you wouldn't miss.
Let her suffer, give her pain is the verdict you gave,
You just can't wait to piss on her grave.
You pretend that you're horrified, make out that you care,
But really you wish that you had been there.
You say you can't bear the thought of what she did,
But you'd do it to her, you'd see her dead.
Tell me, what is the difference between her and you?
You say that you would kill her, well, what else would you do?
Don't you see that violence has no end? Isn't limited by rules?
Don't you see as angels preaching you're nothing but the fools?
Fools step in, where angels fear to tread,
You see, to kill others is the ethic of the dead.
She's the anti-mother, mommy is that you?
She's the anti-mother, mother, mother is that you?
That single mug shot from the past
Ensures your fantasy can last and last.
It gives you the chance to air your hate
Because she got there first, you were too late.
Hindleys' crime was to do what others think,
Took her anger and her prejudice and pushed it to the brink.
Then you goodly christian people, with your sickly mask of love,
Would tear that woman limb from limb, you'd never get enough.
So you keep the story alive,
So you can make yourselves believe,
That you are so much better than her.
But you aren't, that's YOUR GUILT laying there.
She's the anti-mother, mommy is that you?
She's the anti-mother, mother, mother is that you?
She's the anti-mother, mommy is that you?
She's the anti-mother, mother, mother is that you?
Mother? Mother? Mother? Mother? Mother? Mother? Mother? Mother? Mother?
Yeah you get what I mean about her being THE child killer here lol.
Even the average person would've fucking killed her given the chance. This is Breivik. He's a monster and someone absolutely would try and have him given the chance.
Yea, I get you, Ive just never really heard of Myra Hindly except for the Crass song so when I saw her name drop I had to post the lyrics lol. Im all for these people getting the wall, Crass were radlibs but good music none the less.
They should use this guy for scientific experiments instead of the poor little animals
The death penalty is not abolitionist. If you think they should just kill this guy but are also vaguely in favor of prison abolition, there's a real contradiction you need to work out.
I think the callous language used to describe people's wishes here is incorrect and gross, but I don't wholly disagree. It doesn't seem contradictory to envision restorative justice for anti-social violence and repression of our class enemies by any means necessary. What else can class struggle entail? Mao reminds us "revolution is not a dinner party. It is a violent process by which one class overthrows another." Violence is not to be treated lightly.
What to do with severely mentally ill but structurely-powerless reactionaries is a difficult edge case. I think relatively humane life imprisonment is the best option.
Honestly I hope he gets it
and I hope a Muslim immigrant stabs him a week after he's released
Normally not into the state killing people, but they should just kill this fucker.
No they shouldn't
They should hand him over to the families to kill him.
I've seen video of the cell he's "suffering" in. Mother of god would my existence be that pleasant and well attended.
It's much nicer than the place I'm living in now lol.
