Right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway in twin attacks in 2011, on Tuesday (November 19, 2024) asked a court for parole for the second time, a request widely expected to be denied.
Under Norwegian law, the 45-year-old is allowed to seek conditional early release once a year after having served 10 years of his sentence.
His first parole request in January 2022 was denied, with the court concluding there was a “clear risk” he would resume the behaviour that led to the July 22, 2011 attacks.
“He’s asking for parole, but that’s not so probable,” his lawyer Oystein Storrvik told AFP ahead of the three-day hearing that opened Tuesday.
Breivik appeared wearing a black suit and tie and carrying a sign with several political messages.
He has also used his previous court appearances to express extremist views.
In a brief statement to reporters before proceedings got underway, Breivik said: “If I am given an exit opportunity in the future, I will be a tremendous help to the Norwegian state, and that’s something I take very seriously.”
“Alternatively, I can keep my mouth shut for the rest of my life. But that’s up to the judge.”
Asked by a reporter whether he regretted his 2011 actions, Breivik replied: “I will talk about that in my explanation.”
He was sentenced in 2012 to 21 years in prison, at the time Norway’s harshest sentence, which can be extended as long as he is considered a threat to society.
He has been held apart from other inmates in high-security facilities for more than 12 years.
“We want the court to consider his progression, he has a right to… develop and have better living conditions so he can have some kind of future,” Storrvik said.
‘Unbridled violence’
In February 2024, Breivik lost a lawsuit brought against the Norwegian state in which he argued that his extended isolation was a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits “inhumane” and “degrading” treatment.
The state argued that his strict, yet comfortable, conditions were justified due to the “extreme risk of totally unbridled violence”.
On July 22, 2011, the right-wing extremist set off a truck bomb near government offices in Oslo, killing eight people, before heading to the island of Utoya, where disguised as a police officer he shot dead 69 people, mostly teens, attending a Labour Party youth-wing summer camp.
He said he killed his victims because they embraced multiculturalism.
Storrvik said external psychologists had conducted a comprehensive evaluation of Breivik for the first time in 12 years, and would present their 109-page report to the court.
Storrvik declined to disclose its conclusions but said: “I think it can be useful for us.”
Prosecutor Hulda Olsen Karlsdottir told news agency NTB the report had not changed her mind.
“The new evaluation has not changed the prosecution’s view on the issue of his release,” she said.
During court hearings earlier this year, Breivik said he was depressed and addicted to Prozac, at times breaking down in sobs.
The date for the court’s ruling has yet to be set.
Published – November 19, 2024 09:30 pm IST
