Anders Breivik, the neo-Nazi who killed 77 people in 2011, is attacking the state over his isolation in prison

On July 22, 2011, the terrorist, now 44, first detonated a bomb near the government headquarters in Oslo, killing eight people, then 69, most of them teenagers, by setting fire to a Labor youth summer camp. On the island of Utøya.

He was given the maximum sentence in 2012, with a possible extension of 21 years in prison.

Under Prozac

Since then, “he is still in solitary confinement, and for time to pass, this is a violation of the Convention,” his lawyer Øystein Storrvik announced in October. In court documents, Mr. Storvik argues that “the long periods of isolation and lack of meaningful contact have now caused (psychological) damage to Breivik, including that he is now suicidal.” .

“He is now dependent on the antidepressant Prozac to survive his days in prison,” she says. According to him, Breivik currently has contact only with two other inmates, whom he sees for an hour every two weeks under close observation, and with prison staff.

Another article in the Convention on Human Rights guarantees the right to correspondence, and calls for the right-wing extremist to curtail the filtering of his correspondence with the outside world.

In 2016, he had already attacked the Norwegian government for the same two reasons and, to everyone's surprise, was partially successful on the first occasion. But his appeal was later rejected outright and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled his complaint “inadmissible” in 2018.

Pet parrots

For security reasons, the new five-day trial is taking place in the gym at Ringerik prison.

Located on the edge of the Utøya bathing lake, Breivik has two floors, several rooms with a kitchen, a TV lounge with a games console (and a photo of the Eiffel Tower) or a well-equipped gymnasium, according to Norwegian agency NTP. Yet according to the NTP, prison officials placed three parrots there to fulfill his wish to have a pet.

The state, for its part, justifies Breivik's “relative” isolation, emphasizing its dangerous nature and the need to protect itself from the risks it poses to society, other prisoners and guards, but also to those weighing him down.

The Norwegian prison system has traditionally placed great emphasis on the rehabilitation of offenders.

A range of “extensive” functions

The public prosecutor argues that the popular prisoners have “very complete activities” (cooking, games, walks, basketball, etc.) and “there is no indication that Breivik suffers from physical or mental problems due to the conditions of detention.” Andreas Hjetland.

“Breivik has so far shown little receptivity to rehabilitation,” he notes. “It is therefore difficult to imagine what significant improvements in detention conditions are possible and justified in the short term.”

Breivik's public appearances often gave rise to provocations (Hitler salutes, militant symbols, ideological innuendos, etc.) that were painfully experienced by victims' families and survivors.