Mass Killer Suing Norway Over 'Inhumane' Prison Conditions

He's cut off from other prisoners, but he does have a PlayStation
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 2, 2016 5:01 PM CST
Mass Killer Suing Norway Over 'Inhumane' Prison Conditions
Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in 2011 in Norway, is suing the government, claiming prison conditions are violating his rights.   (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

Anders Behring Breivik—the man who killed 77 people, many of them teenagers, in 2011—is suing the Norwegian government, alleging his treatment while imprisoned has been "inhumane" and "degrading," AFP reports. Breivik's lawyer claims his client has "clear isolation damage" after nearly five years alone. He says Breivik is only able to interact with prison staff and lawyers and is too uncomfortable with how much his mail is monitored to form correspondence relationships, according to Reuters. Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in prison—the maximum allowed under Norwegian law—for a bombing outside a government building and shooting at a youth camp. He's been cut off from interacting with other prisoners ever since.

On Wednesday, the Norwegian government denied Breivik's claims that it's violating his human rights. “The measures which have been applied to the plaintiff ... are well within the limits of what is permitted,” AFP quotes a government document. It points out he has three cells he can move freely between, a computer, a TV, and a PlayStation. He's also allowed to cook his own meals and walk in the yard. The government argues it is trying to prevent Breivik—who had previously called prisons "ideal recruitment places"—from creating an "extremist network." “There are limits to his contacts with the outside world which are of course strict," a government lawyer tells AFP. "It pretty much has to be that way." A hearing on Breivik's claims is scheduled for later this month. (More Anders Behring Breivik stories.)

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