Norway mass killer Anders Behring Breivik loses human rights case to end prison isolation
- The far-right fanatic has spent 12 years in isolation so far for killing 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage in 2011
- Breivik had testified in tears that his life in isolation was a nightmare, but a psychologist assessed that he was ‘doing well’ and not depressed or suicidal
Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik lost against the state in his bid to end his isolation in prison after he argued his human rights were being violated, a court ruled on Thursday.
The far-right fanatic, who killed 77 people, most of them teenagers, in a bombing and shooting rampage in 2011, sued the state in January over his prison conditions.
Breivik testified he was sorry for what he had done and broke down in tears as he said his life in prison isolation was a nightmare that left him considering suicide daily.
A day later, a psychologist who co-wrote a fresh risk assessment about the killer testified he was neither depressed nor suicidal and was doing “very well”.
“In summary, the court has come to the conclusion that the sentencing conditions cannot be said to be, or to have been, disproportionately burdensome,” the Oslo District Court ruling said, making clear there had been no violation of his human rights.
Breivik will appeal against the ruling, his lawyer Oeystein Storrvik said, adding that the two had already spoken about the outcome.