Mass killer Anders Breivik says prison is a ‘nightmare’ as he sues over isolation
Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik sobbed he is ‘sorry’ for what he had done as he launched his latest bid to sue the state over his ‘inhumane’ treatment behind bars.
The far-right fanatic, who killed 77 people – mostly teenagers – in a bombing and shooting rampage in 2011, claims his isolation breaches his human rights.
Breivik’s two-storey complex at Ringerike prison has a kitchen, dining room and TV room complete with an Xbox several armchairs and pictures of the Eiffel Tower, as well as a fitness room with weights, treadmill and a rowing machine.
But he told the court: ‘I am still a person and there is a limit to how much a person can take. Every day is a nightmare. I consider suicide every day.’
Breivik, who did not flash the Nazi salute on entering the makeshift court like he previously has, said: ‘I don’t think I can survive much longer without meaningful human relations.’
He killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo and gunned down 69 others at a summer camp for young political activists on Utoeya island on July 22, 2011, and has been held in isolation ever since.
Asked by government lawyer Andreas Hjetland what his thoughts were on Utoeya, Breivik said: ‘I am sorry for what I did. I am willing to give up politics.’
Breivik has previously given mixed messages about how he regards his actions. He has said in the past that he did not regret what he did and at other times that he rejected all types of violence.
The lawsuit, now in its second day, has dragged Breivik back on to the front pages to the exasperation of many survivors and victims’ families.
Freddy Lie, father of two daughters who were at Utoeya in 2011 – one was shot dead, the other was wounded but survived – accused the terrorist of ‘playing to the gallery’ with ‘crocodile tears’.
He said: ‘Let him sit where he sits. I personally hope he gets to be 100 years. Because now he is suffering … He did not suffer before. He thought killing children was OK. He is nothing more than a child killer.’
Ingrid Kragh Swang, whose son Kristian survived the attack on Utoeya, told public broadcaster NRK on Monday: ‘We are sick and tired of this being brought up again and again. It wears us down and tears something up in us.’
Breivik’s lawyers argue Norway is breaching the European Convention on Human Rights, including sections saying no one should be subject to ‘torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’.
He failed in a similar attempt in 2016 and 2017, when his appeal was ultimately rejected by the European Court of Justice.
Øystein Storrvik, told The Associated Press that Breivik’s mental health has suffered from additional years in solitary confinement since the previous case, leaving him ‘suicidal’ and dependent on antidepressants.
Storrvik said that he would argue for an easing of restrictions and more contact with other inmates, and that he believed 12 and a half years in isolation was ‘unique’ in recent European judicial history.
He told the court Breivik had hoped he could have had some form of ‘human relations’ when he was moved from Skien prison to the spacious complex in Ringerike prison near Oslo in 2022, but that the cells had been ‘turned into an isolation ward’.
Lawyers for the Justice Ministry say the curbs are necessary as Breivik remains a threat and could inspire others to commit violence.
Government lawyer Andreas Hjetland told the court: ‘Breivik is the same. He is still proud of what he has done. He continues his ideological project.
‘He sees himself as an ultra-nationalist. He is against multi-culturalism. He sees himself as the leader of a movement … the leader of a project, and it is going as he wants it to – except for the limit on his correspondence.
‘And that is why he is bringing this case to the court.’
Flanked by three prison guards, Breivik stood at the witness stand, rather than sit down as is customary in Norway, and consulted several sheets of notes.
He wore a black suit, white shirt and brown tie.
At the start of his witness statement he said his profession was head of a political party called Nordic State and of ‘several other organisations I do not want to mention’.
He said he was not dangerous himself, but had become a character online over which he no longer had control.
‘It is a completely different person than me, it is a character I have lost control over and that is utilised by the far right,’ he said.
The case is scheduled to run until Friday. The judge’s ruling will be issued in coming weeks. There is no jury.
The jail is on the shore of Tyrifjorden lake, where Utoeya also lies.
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