Breivik may face life imprisonment

Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in 2011, has filed a lawsuit against the authorities over his long-term detention in solitary confinement. In his view, this isolation constitutes a direct violation of human rights as enshrined in the European Convention. Breivik is demanding the opportunity to socialise with other people and a reduction in the censorship of his correspondence, reports the Reuters news agency.
‘He is isolated to an extreme degree,’ confirmed the terrorist’s lawyer, Øystein Storrvik, adding that Breivik ‘has a right to communicate with other people’. In particular, the prisoner periodically speaks with guards and medical staff.
Now, following Breivik’s complaint, the Oslo District Court must decide whether to hold hearings on the case.
Late last year, Norwegian law enforcement authorities suspected Breivik of attempting to organise a terrorist group while behind bars. Law enforcement officials raised this concern due to Breivik’s active internet presence—he was corresponding via email with hundreds of people he had not previously known. According to information from the Norwegian Correctional Service, approximately 220 letters written by Breivik were intercepted. The police are investigating the recipients of these letters, with whom Breivik had no prior acquaintance before his incarceration.
Control over the terrorist has been tightened. ‘We fear that he is using these letters to try to create a criminal network that could commit unlawful acts,’ noted representatives of the Norwegian authorities.
Following this, law enforcement officials placed restrictions on Breivik’s ability to send letters and mass mailings. ‘Breivik has no intention of forming ordinary friendly relationships. His strategy appears to be to send as many letters as possible and to establish as many contacts as he can,’ the Norwegian officials noted.
The court found Breivik guilty of a double terrorist attack and sentenced him to the maximum penalty—21 years in prison, with the possibility of extensions for five-year periods an unlimited number of times. Breivik is currently held in the high-security Ila Prison in the suburbs of Oslo, in a single cell measuring 24 square metres. He has his own gym and a computer with access to a network that is not connected to the internet.
Breivik has repeatedly complained about his prison conditions before. For instance, in February last year, he demanded that his PlayStation 2 console be replaced with a newer version, the PlayStation 3, along with ‘access to adult games’ which he would be able to choose himself. Prior to that, Breivik sent a letter to the Russian television channel REN TV, in which he listed seven actions by the prison administration that he deemed unlawful.