Norway reviews Breivik's 'inhumane' prison conditions

A Norwegian court on Tuesday was reviewing a government appeal against a ruling that the isolation of mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik was inhumane and violates his human rights.

The 37-year-old right-wing extremist, who killed 77 people in a bomb and shooting rampage in 2011, sued the government last year, saying his solitary confinement, frequent strip searches and the fact that he was often handcuffed during the early part of his incarceration violated his human rights.

In a surprise decision in April, the Oslo District Court sided with Breivik's claims that his isolation in the maximum security Skien prison breaches the European Convention on Human Rights.

It ruled that "the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment represents a fundamental value in a democratic society. This applies no matter what also in the treatment of terrorists and killers". It also ordered the government to pay Breivik's legal costs of $41,000.

However, it dismissed his claim that his right to respect for private and family life was violated by restrictions on contacts with other right-wing extremists.

Breivik was convicted of mass murder and terrorism in 2012 and given a 21-year prison sentence.

He is being held in isolation in a three-cell complex where he can play video games, watch TV and exercise. He has also complained about the quality of the prison food, having to eat with plastic utensils and not being able to communicate with sympathizers.

The government has rejected his complaints, saying he is treated humanely despite the severity of his crimes and that he must be separated from other inmates for safety reasons.

Breivik had carefully planned the attacks on July 22, 2011. He set off a car bomb outside the government headquarters in Oslo, killing eight people. Dressed in police uniform, Breivik then drove to the island of Utoya and opened fire on the summer camp of the left-wing Labor Party's youth wing. Sixty-nine people there were killed, most of them teenagers, before he surrendered to police.

(China Daily 01/11/2017 page12)