© AFP
Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik was proven wrong in his lawsuit against the state in Oslo on Thursday. He stated that the treatment in prison violated his human rights because he lives in isolation. According to his lawyer, Breivik wants to appeal.
“Breivik enjoys good material detention conditions and a relatively high degree of freedom on a daily basis,” Judge Birgitte Kolrud ruled in her verdict. “It seems unrealistic to consider major changes as significant changes in the risk profile are unlikely to occur in the short term.” The state still considers Breivik dangerous and “an absolutely extreme risk of total unbridled violence.”
During the five-day trial held in early January, the 45-year-old extremist, sometimes in tears, described himself as depressed and addicted to the antidepressant Prozac. He further accused the authorities of trying to “drive him to suicide”.
Breivik, 45, has been in solitary confinement under close guard for about twelve years. Last summer, the far-right terrorist entered into a battle with the Norwegian state for the second time over his detention conditions. Two years ago he tried to be released early, but his request was rejected.
Xbox and television
Although Breivik lives in isolation, he is serving his sentence in comfortable conditions. His cell consists of three rooms, including a small gym and a kitchen. He has access to a television, an Xbox and three parakeets, in accordance with his request to have a pet. “Breivik is being treated exceptionally well,” says prison director Eirik Bergstedt.
Breivik killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo in 2011 and then 69 people on the island of Utoya, where Social Democratic youth were on a summer camp. He was sentenced in 2012 to the maximum prison term of 21 years. His sentence can then be extended if he is still considered a threat.