Anders Breivik: Mass murderer to take ill treatment claim to European Court of Human Rights

Norway dismisses killer's case arguing that isolation in jail has harmed his mental health and consolidated neo-Nazi beliefs

Anders Behring Breivik in court (Reuters)

Norway's top court has rejected an appeal by mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, saying the country did not violate his human rights by isolating him in jail.

The Hoeyesterett court ruled there was “no basis” for a different conclusion than the one reached by the Borgarting Court of Appeal in January.

Breivik, serving a 21-year sentence for killing 77 people in a 2011 bomb-and-shooting rampage, had claimed his solitary confinement has deeply damaged him and made him even more radical in his neo-Nazi beliefs.

“At this point, there are no prospects for Breivik winning an appeal in the Supreme Court,” the court said in a statement.

The appeal committee added that Breivik “still represents an unusually high risk of (committing) very serious events”.

His defence lawyer Oystein Storrvikk told Norwegian news agency NTB that they would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Last year, the Norwegian government had appealed against a lower court ruling that Breivik's isolation in prison violates his rights.

He had also claimed his solitary confinement, the frequent strip searches and the fact that he was often handcuffed during the early part of his incarceration violated his human rights.

​Breivik is held in isolation in a three-cell complex where he can play video games, watch TV and exercise.

He has also complained about the quality of the prison food, having to eat with plastic utensils and not being able to communicate with sympathisers.

The government had said he is treated humanely despite the severity of his crimes.

Breivik had meticulously planned the deadly July 22 2011 attacks, setting off a car bomb outside the government headquarters in Oslo, killing eight people and wounding dozens.

He then drove to the island of Utoya, 40 kilometres (25 miles) away, where he opened fire on the annual summer camp of the left-wing Labour Party's youth wing.

Sixty-nine people there were killed, most of them teenagers, before Breivik surrendered to police.

Associated Press