Norway does not agree that prison conditions for mass killer Anders Behring Breivik violate his human rights and will appeal an Oslo court’s finding that they do, Justice Minister Anders Anundsen said on Tuesday.
An appeal was expected after Oslo’s district court ruled on April 20 that Breivik, who killed 77 people in twin attacks in 2011, was denied his human rights by being kept in solitary confinement it described as a “completely locked world”.
“I have asked the Office of the Attorney General to appeal the verdict,” Anundsen said in a statement.
“The conditions under which Breivik is detained does not constitute, in the state’s view, ‘inhuman or degrading treatment’ under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”
The April 20 ruling, which took many by surprise, said the prison authorities had done little to alleviate the effects of isolation on Breivik.
It said he has been subjected to strip searches and woken up hourly by guards for long periods.
Breivik took Norwegian authorities to court in March, accusing them of inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
He protested against his isolation from other inmates and from outsiders who are not correctional facility professionals. (Reuters)
