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

  • PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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      I feel like the point of the lawsuit is not in good faith necessarily. He is, in a way, showing off. “I committed mass murder in the name of fascism, and my cell is nicer than your flat.” It’s a form of stochastic terror, the way I see it.

      • PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        Yeah that’s a fair comment. He’s always taken every opportunity to get back into the news and give himself a platform for spouting his bollocks, but it’s a legal avenue he appears to be entitled to explore so go wild I guess.

        If anything, it just reminds me of what a giant tosser he is every time he makes the headlines.

      • Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml
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        To be fair, “my cell is better than your flat” is the result of decades of americans being “it is what it is” sheep rather than slicing some mfers. Whoops, no they do actually slice some mfers… in support of the very people oppressing them. For fuck sake.

      • Syndic@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        I wouldn’t put it past him. He was very outspoken about how he wants Norway to get a harsher justice system. So him still getting the same rights as every other prisoner is him loosing.

      • Tvkan@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        He isn’t suing because of the amenities, but because he is being socially isolated. It’s not about the quality of his cell at all.

    • Potatisen@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Why are you being down voted when all these American, single lane thoughts are rising to the top?

      Let him scream and wail all he wants. He’s had chances to change, he didn’t, the court will take that into account. He’s just pursing every avenue available to him. If he ever does change in the future, he’ll be royally fucked because he already screamed wolf.

    • 420blazeit69 [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      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.

      • SoyViking [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        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.

    • tree@lemmy.zipOP
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      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

  • teamevil@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Fuck this asshole…he’s living in beautiful conditions because they are attempting to rehabilitate someone who’s not interested…I say we swap him with poor fucks in the US who could be rehabilitated but we won’t try and let him live in some real consequences for the hate he spewed.

  • arc@lemm.ee
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    Breivik is the sort of murderer, where there is absolutely zero doubt about his guilt, where the crimes themselves are heinous, and where he should never see the outside of a jail cell ever. If Norway had voted to throw him down a mineshaft, or imprison him in a windowless cell where he was fed slops for the rest of his life I couldn’t care less.

    But Norway isn’t like that and he is being treated exceptionally well by any standard for his category of offence. His pathetic narcissistic legal whining to the courts will go nowhere and he’ll stew in prison for as long as they can legally hold him. I think authorities would be relieved if he made good on his threats since it spares them the concern of what happens if he is eventually released.

    • Che Banana@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      It is his form of entertainment & probably feels like this gives him a stage & relevance. Piece of shit should never see the outside of his cell, and all his court appearances should be via cctv.

    • madcaesar@lemmy.world
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      Hold on, hold on, hold on… Are you telling me this piece of shit isn’t going to spend the rest of his life in prison??? What do you mean for as long as they can hold him??

      • pazzeda@sopuli.xyz
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        Well, once his life sentence is up, (in Norway it is 21 years), he can be sentenced by a court to an extension of 5 years at a time if they feel it necessary. And I think he will be facing many such extensions.

      • arc@lemm.ee
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        Norway has life sentences that mean 21 years. they might hold him indefinitely with extensions while he is a danger to society. But this POS could become enfeebled, or sick, or feign remorse in which case he might get released. I expect his freedom will be very brief and painful however.

    • Syndic@feddit.de
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      Thanks for that comment. Way to many people hearing this would want Norway to change their justice system to the worse to make the life of one horrible person worse. Luckily Norwegians do understand how good their system is and don’t want to destroy it for such petty reasons like vengeance.

  • Aidinthel@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • tree@lemmy.zipOP
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      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

      • neidu2@feddit.nl
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        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.

        • tree@lemmy.zipOP
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          I don’t live in Norway it’s not like I could do anything about it anyways, it was quicker to look this up than a legal analysis.

          • Flag@kbin.social
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            The term used in norway is ‘Forvaring’, which under conditions such as risk of repeating the offense, or inspiring others to do similar things (probs a few others too) means it can get extended. This extension can happen more than once if the risk is dermed to be real, or if they show no/insufficient degrees of rehabilitation.

            So while i cant see the actual future, its extremely unlikely he will walk free, ever. What he’s doing here is, again (as this aint the first time he complained), publicity for his views.

            And the worst part…

            Ultimately he failed in his explicit goal to spark an uprising but in a sense he was successful in other ways. Partially inspiring that dude in NZ (christchurch?) and so on, but domestically his actions did help shift the political landscape to the right, and it was a blow to thenlabour party which they are still reeling from to this day.

            Edit: he had also legally changed his name to “Fjottolf Hansen”.

    • Evotech@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      He’s been in isolation the entire time. Never with the rest of the prison population. And the cameras actually work in Norwegian prisons.

    • Syndic@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      Luckily Norwegians do understand and respect their justice system better than people like you and don’t want to introduce such a shitty tool of vengeance just for one guy. Especially since that very fucker wanted Norway to get a much harsher justice system in the first place. Them granting him the same rights every other prisoner in Norway has, is winning against his ideology of hatred.

      And the success of their justice system, especially when compared to countries who use death penalty and other punitive measures such as state sanctioned rape, speaks for itself. Many countries could learn a lot from Norway.

  • Zerush@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    They should use this guy for scientific experiments instead of the poor little animals

  • HowMany@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I’ve seen video of the cell he’s “suffering” in. Mother of god would my existence be that pleasant and well attended.

  • Dolores [love/loves]@hexbear.net
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    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… shrug-outta-hecks

      • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.net
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        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.

        • Quaxamilliom [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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          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?

          • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.net
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            1 year ago

            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.

            • Quaxamilliom [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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              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.

        • arc@lemm.ee
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          Exactly. As soon as his whereabouts were known he’d be the target of everyone. Not just political groups, but just normal people on the street. If he’s lucky they’ll just spit in his face. If he’s not he’ll get beaten up or worse.

    • arc@lemm.ee
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      It’ll be interesting to see what happens if he’s ever released but I don’t think he’ll be enjoying his freedom for very long.

      • 420blazeit69 [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        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.

        • bubbalu [they/them]@hexbear.net
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          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.