Norway | A “suicidal” Breivik sues the state to protest his isolation

(Oslo) Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in 2011, is “suicidal” and on antidepressants due to his strict prison regime, his lawyer said Monday on the first day of a new trial filed by the neo-Nazi against the Norwegian state.

“The main damage linked to Breivik’s isolation is his desire to no longer live. You can call it a depression,” said the lawyer, Øystein Storrvik, in the gymnasium of Ringerike prison where the trial was relocated for security reasons.

“At times, he is more or less suicidal,” he added, citing in particular an episode where his client – ​​now dependent on Prozac, according to him – shouted “Kill me!” Please kill me.”

Held apart from other prisoners, the 44-year-old extremist believes that his isolation for around 11 and a half years violates Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits “inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment.” “.

Shaved head, graying beard, black suit, he, unlike his previous public appearances, refrained from any provocation upon his arrival in the courtroom.

On July 22, 2011, he first detonated a bomb near the government headquarters in Oslo, killing eight people, then killed 69 other people, most of them teenagers, by opening fire on a summer camp of the Labor youth on the island of Utøya.

He was sentenced in 2012 to the maximum sentence at the time, 21 years in prison with the possibility of extension.

“He will never come out, he is well aware of that,” Mr. Storrvik stressed. “Can we impose a (de facto) life sentence and prevent any human contact during the execution of this sentence? “.

According to him, the Norwegian authorities have not put in place sufficient measures to compensate for the relative isolation of Breivik, whose human interactions are essentially limited to contacts with professionals (guards, lawyers, pastor, etc.) “without the possibility to form real friendships.

Invoking another article of the Human Rights Convention which guarantees a right to correspondence, the right-wing extremist also calls for a reduction in the filtering of his letters with the outside world.

Pet parakeets

In Ringerike prison located on the edge of the lake where Utøya bathes, Breivik has, on two floors, several rooms serving as a kitchen, a TV lounge with games console, photos of the Eiffel Tower or even an equipped gym, according to photos taken by the Norwegian agency NTB.

Still according to NTB, the prison authorities also placed three parakeets there to fulfill his wish to have a pet.

The Norwegian prison system traditionally places great emphasis on the rehabilitation of criminals.

The State justifies Breivik’s prison regime by its dangerousness and by the risks it poses for society, other prisoners and guards but also those who weigh on him.

Breivik benefits from “a very comprehensive range of activities” (cooking, games, walks, basketball, etc.) and “there is no indication that Breivik suffers from physical or mental problems due to his conditions of detention” , argues state attorney Andreas Hjetland in court documents.

“Breivik has so far shown little receptiveness to rehabilitation work,” he also specifies. “It is therefore difficult to imagine what significant improvements in detention conditions are possible and justifiable in the short term.”

“A burden” for families

Breivik’s previous public appearances generally gave rise to provocative gestures or remarks (Hitler salute, militant signs, ideological tirades, etc.) which were painfully experienced by the victims’ families and survivors.

“Many are fed up and trying to stay away from all this,” Lisbeth Kristine Røyneland, president of the support group for the victims’ families, who lost her 18-year-old daughter, Synne, on Utøya, told AFP on Monday. .

“Obviously, people experience this as a burden because it revives their memories,” explained another leader of the group, Merete Stamneshagen, whose daughter of the same age, Silje, also died on the island.

The judge banned the broadcast of Breivik’s testimony scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

In 2016, Breivik had already taken the State to court on the same grounds and had partially won his case at first instance, before being completely dismissed on appeal. And in 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled his complaint “inadmissible”.