Almost 13 years have passed since Anders Behring Breivik carried out what has come to be known as the worst attack in Norway since the Second World War. In total, he murdered 77 people, the majority on the island of Utøya where the social democratic youth union AUF had arranged a camp at the time.
A year later, Breivik was sentenced to at least 21 years in prison for, among other things, terrorist crimes. Since then, he has lived under severe restrictions, not least when it comes to contacts with the outside world and other inmates.
“Is suicidal”
It is precisely these conditions that Breivik is addressing in the mood he has now directed at the Norwegian state. The terrorist is seeking compensation for the mental damage caused by the isolation, according to Breivik’s lawyer.
– He has been damaged by the isolation, is suicidal and has tried to take his own life for the past six years, says lawyer Øystein Storrvik to NRK.
In documents submitted to the court, it appears that Breivik is currently only allowed to see two other inmates. According to the lawyer, this takes place one hour every two weeks.
The Norwegian state has consistently justified Breivik’s isolation by saying that placing him with others would pose a security risk. That argument forms the defense’s main line in this case as well, reports NRK with reference to documents submitted to the court. Nor does one share the image that Breivik would be suicidal.
Kitchen, gym and three budgies
Breivik’s conditions in prison have long been a hot topic in Norway. The media have previously described how he has his own “department” at the Ringerike facility, with its own kitchen, gym and three budgies.
When the Oslo District Court takes up Breivik’s lawsuit on Wednesday, it is not the first time the matter has been tried in court either. In 2016, Breivik filed a similar lawsuit against the state, but then lost in the Court of Appeal. Then, and at several other court hearings connected to his prison time, Breivik made Nazi salutes in court.