Norway Mass Killer Loses Suit Over Prison Conditions

UPDATE Feb 16, 2024 1:39 AM CST

Anders Behring Breivik has lost his bid to end his years of isolation in a Norwegian prison. The 45-year-old, who killed 77 people in 2011 in Norway's largest mass killing, sued the country's authorities, arguing that the conditions of his imprisonment had made him suicidal and that restrictions on his communications should be lifted. But on Thursday, the court ruled his rights were not being violated and that the correspondence restrictions were necessary because he is still a danger to society, the BBC reports. The court also noted the "relatively great freedom" Breivik is allowed to, for example, study and work on "political projects." He also has access to a TV room, kitchen, and exercise room. Breivik's lawyer vowed to appeal.

Jan 8, 2024 8:10 AM CST

The man who carried out Norway's biggest mass killing appeared in court Monday to complain about his prison conditions. Anders Behring Breivik, 44, says it is inhumane that he is forced to live largely in isolation, reports Reuters. Breivik killed a total of 77 people in 2011—eight in a car bombing and 69 (most of them teenagers) in a subsequent shooting rampage. "He has been isolated for about 12 years," lawyer Oeystein Storrvik told the court Monday, adding she that thought the length was unprecedented within Europe. "He is only in contact with professionals, not with other inmates."

Breivik, who has changed his name to Fjotolf Hansen, says the isolation is jeopardizing his mental health and is a violation of his human rights. The AP notes that he sued about seven years ago with the same complaint, but the European Court of Justice rejected his suit. A recent visit by the news agency NTB revealed that Breivik lives in a separated section of the prison with an exercise room, a kitchen, a TV, and a bathroom. He's also allowed to keep three birds as pets, and lawyers opposing his request point out that he has contact with guards, health professionals, a priest, and with two other inmates for one hour every other week. (More Anders Behring Breivik stories.)