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Breivik: My Nazi ideology has helped me survive prison Breivik slams prison food, praises Hitler in court speech
(about 5 hours later)
SKIEN, Norway — Anders Behring Breivik, the right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in 2011, told a court Wednesday that the Norwegian government is trying to kill him by holding him in isolation but his Nazi ideology has helped him survive so far. SKIEN, Norway — Norway’s worst mass killer pledged allegiance to Nazism, compared himself to Nelson Mandela and complained about being served cold coffee and microwaved food as he testified Wednesday in a trial over his prison conditions.
The 37-year-old has sued the government, insisting that his prison conditions are “inhuman” and violate the European Convention on Human Rights. The government disagrees, noting that Breivik has access to three cells and the right to receive visitors and communication with the outside world — except for other extremists, who could be inspired by his “poisonous” ideology. Anders Behring Breivik, 37, accused the government of trying to sap his will to live by isolating him from other prisoners and denying him mail correspondence with other right-wing extremists.
“It would have been more humane to shoot me than to treat me like an animal,” Breivik told a court hearing in the gym of Skien prison, where the trial is being held for security reasons. “This is inhuman treatment,” said Breivik who killed 77 people in 2011 in a bombing in Oslo’s government district and a shooting massacre on Utoya island, where the youth division of the left-wing Labor Party had gathered for its annual summer camp.
Breivik was convicted of terrorism and mass murder for his attacks on July 22, 2011. He killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo’s government district and shot 69 others, mostly teenagers, dead in a massacre at a summer camp for left-wing youth activists on Utoya island. Testifying in a prison gym temporarily used as a courtroom, Breivik was given three hours to explain why he thinks his human rights have been violated in a prison system widely seen as among the world’s most lenient.
He was sentenced to a 21-year term, Norway’s maximum sentence, which can be extended for as long as he’s considered a danger to society, most likely for the rest of his life. He said the government had abused him through 885 strip searches, frequent handcuffing and restrictions on pen pals and visitors. His long list of grievances included being served microwaved food and having to eat it with plastic utensils.
Entering the court Wednesday, Breivik didn’t repeat the Nazi salute he had used Tuesday on the first day of the trial, but described himself as a die-hard national socialist. But he also used his first chance to speak to an outside audience since his 2012 criminal trial to declare himself a pure “national socialist,” or Nazi. After the attacks he had described himself as a commander of a Christian militant group, which investigators found no trace of.
Reading from a prepared statement, he accused the government of trying to drive him to suicide by keeping him isolated from other prisoners and by stopping his mail correspondence with sympathizers. He said he drew strength from principles he had learned from Adolf Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf.” Throughout his rambling speech, Breivik’s focus was on himself, his political views and the perceived injustices he faces in prison, not on the lives he took and the families he destroyed.
“This is a waste of time. He has nothing to complain about,” said Freddy Lie, whose teenage daughters were on Utoya when Breivik attacked. One of them died and another was seriously wounded.
Lie, the only family member of a victim attending the trial in Skien prison, said the judge should have stopped Breivik from making “irrelevant” political statements.
Norwegian authorities insist Breivik has the same rights as any other inmate to challenge his prison conditions. Judge Helen Andenaes Sekulic repeatedly urged Breivik to speed up his monologue to the court, but didn’t stop him from describing his ambitions to lead a fascist party from prison.
Though he refrained from doing a Nazi salute, like he did on the first day of the trial, Breivik explained how he became a Nazi at age 12 and how Adolf Hitler’s teachings helped him endure his isolation in prison.
“Those principles are the only reasons that I am alive today,” Breivik said.“Those principles are the only reasons that I am alive today,” Breivik said.
Except for prison staff, health personnel and others visiting him in a professional capacity, Breivik said the only person he’s seen in prison is his mother, who has since died. But he also said that his loneliness was taking a toll on his mental state, resulting in headaches and difficulty sleeping.
Government lawyers said Tuesday that he’s allowed to receive visitors, but that there were few requests to see him, except by other right-wing extremists. Breivik said the isolation is making him apathetic and depressed, giving him headaches and difficulty sleeping. Prison psychiatrist Randi Rosenqvist testified that she found no signs that Breivik had suffered serious mental health problems because of his isolation.
“I don’t think most people would have survived as long as I have,” he said.
Prison psychiatrist Randi Rosenqvist testified that she found no signs that Breivik had suffered serious mental health problems due to his isolation.
“Everyone has headaches from time to time,” she said, adding that could be remedied with painkillers and water.“Everyone has headaches from time to time,” she said, adding that could be remedied with painkillers and water.
The government says Breivik is being treated with dignity and respect despite the severity of his crimes. It says all restrictions on his contacts with others are for his own safety and to ensure he doesn’t use his prison time to build extremist networks. Later, court officials inspected the three cells that Breivik has to himself in the high-security wing of Skien prison and where he can play video games, watch TV and read newspapers. The government says he has an electronic typewriter and a computer that isn’t connected to the Internet.
Later Wednesday, court officials were to visit Breivik’s cells in the high-security section of Skien prison. The trial is set to end Friday. He is allowed to receive visits from family and friends, but hasn’t received any except for his mother before she died. Breivik declined to meet with his father. Government lawyers said they had rejected visits from right-wing extremists for security reasons.
Comparing himself to Mandela, the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate and South African president who was jailed during his struggle against apartheid, Breivik told the court he no longer sees violence as a way to achieve his political goals.
“We don’t necessarily believe that,” government attorney Marius Emberland said.
The trial is set to finish on Friday.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.