Norway rejects mass killer Breivik’s ‘inhumane’ prison treatment claims

Norway has rejected mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik’s claims he is subject to inhuman and degrading treatment in prison which violates his human rights. The country’s attorney-general is fighting the killer’s allegations, saying the restrictions placed on him “are well within the limits of what is permitted”. Breivik, who shot dead 77 people in 2011, has access to three cells within the jail: one for living in, another for studying and a third for exercise. He has access to a TV, a computer and a games console, according to court documents filed by the attorney general. Although Breivik is not allowed contact with other inmates, he interacts with guards and professional staff, they add.

There are limits to his contact with the outside world which are of course strict - it pretty much has to be that way - but he is not totally excluded from all contact with other people.

Norway state lawyer Marius Emberland

Breivik murdered eight people in a bomb attack on 22 July 2011. He later killed a further 69 people when he opened fire on the island of Utoya. He was sentenced to serve 21 years in jail in August 2012. But the 37-year-old is suing the Norwegian state over his treatment, which he claims is in contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights. His lawyers say he has been suffering from “clear isolation damage” caused by him being cut off from visitors. The only non-professional he has been allowed to see is his mother, shortly before she died of cancer, they claim. A hearing will be held at the Skein prison, where Breivik is being held, later this month.

You don’t know what it means to have a hard time. Shut the f*** up and take your punishment.

Shooting survivor Emma Martinovic, speaking in October

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