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| Norway rejects Anders Breivik 'inhuman' prison conditions claim | Norway rejects Anders Breivik 'inhuman' prison conditions claim |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Norway has dismissed complaints by the mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik that his conditions in prison – where he is serving 21 years for killing 77 people in 2011 – violate his human rights. | Norway has dismissed complaints by the mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik that his conditions in prison – where he is serving 21 years for killing 77 people in 2011 – violate his human rights. |
| Breivik, who is being held apart from other inmates at a high-security facility, is suing the Norwegian state, accusing it of “inhuman” and “degrading” treatment in violation of the European convention on human rights. | Breivik, who is being held apart from other inmates at a high-security facility, is suing the Norwegian state, accusing it of “inhuman” and “degrading” treatment in violation of the European convention on human rights. |
| Ahead of the hearing on 15 to 18 March, however, the office of the attorney general defended Breivik’s conditions in jail. | Ahead of the hearing on 15 to 18 March, however, the office of the attorney general defended Breivik’s conditions in jail. |
| “The measures which have been applied to the plaintiff … are well within the limits of what is permitted” under the convention, it said in a document submitted to the Oslo district court and published on Wednesday. | “The measures which have been applied to the plaintiff … are well within the limits of what is permitted” under the convention, it said in a document submitted to the Oslo district court and published on Wednesday. |
| The document said Breivik had access to three cells – one for living, one for studying, and a third for physical exercise – as well as a television, a computer without internet access and a games console, and that he was able to prepare his own food and do his own laundry. | |
| Related: The Norwegian prison where inmates are treated like people | Related: The Norwegian prison where inmates are treated like people |
| While he is allowed no contact with other inmates, also for security reasons, he interacts with guards and professional staff, the attorney general’s office said. | While he is allowed no contact with other inmates, also for security reasons, he interacts with guards and professional staff, the attorney general’s office said. |
| “There are limits to his contacts with the outside world which are of course strict – it pretty much has to be that way – but he is not totally excluded from all contact with other people,” said Marius Emberland, the lawyer who will defend the state at trial. | “There are limits to his contacts with the outside world which are of course strict – it pretty much has to be that way – but he is not totally excluded from all contact with other people,” said Marius Emberland, the lawyer who will defend the state at trial. |
| Breivik’s lawyer, Øystein Storrvik, argued meanwhile that his client has been subjected to “a longstanding isolation for almost five years” and he is suffering “clear isolation damage”. | Breivik’s lawyer, Øystein Storrvik, argued meanwhile that his client has been subjected to “a longstanding isolation for almost five years” and he is suffering “clear isolation damage”. |
| In the first two years of his sentence, “the only visit from a non-professional was that of the plaintiff’s mother” just before she died of cancer, Storrvik said in another document submitted to the court. | In the first two years of his sentence, “the only visit from a non-professional was that of the plaintiff’s mother” just before she died of cancer, Storrvik said in another document submitted to the court. |
| “They had around five minutes together during which they hugged.” | “They had around five minutes together during which they hugged.” |
| Breivik also accuses the state of violating another aspect of the convention, regarding the “right to respect for his private and family life … and his correspondence”. | Breivik also accuses the state of violating another aspect of the convention, regarding the “right to respect for his private and family life … and his correspondence”. |
| Authorities have said those restrictions are necessary to prevent him from building up an “extremist network”. | Authorities have said those restrictions are necessary to prevent him from building up an “extremist network”. |
| On 22 July 2011, Breivik killed eight people in a bomb attack outside a government building in Oslo and later murdered another 69 people, most of them teenagers, when he opened fire at a Labour Youth camp on the island of Utøya. | On 22 July 2011, Breivik killed eight people in a bomb attack outside a government building in Oslo and later murdered another 69 people, most of them teenagers, when he opened fire at a Labour Youth camp on the island of Utøya. |
| He was given a 21-year prison sentence in August 2012, which can be extended if he is still considered a danger to society. | He was given a 21-year prison sentence in August 2012, which can be extended if he is still considered a danger to society. |
| The hearing later this month will for security reasons be held in the gymnasium of the Skien prison, about 62 miles (100km) south-west of Oslo where the 37-year-old killer is incarcerated. | The hearing later this month will for security reasons be held in the gymnasium of the Skien prison, about 62 miles (100km) south-west of Oslo where the 37-year-old killer is incarcerated. |