The case summarized The Borgarting Court of Appeal has started processing Anders Behring Breivik’s appeal about the conditions of sentencing in Ringerike prison. Breivik’s lawyer, Øystein Storrvik, believes that the prison conditions push the limits of human isolation and that Breivik’s condition is stagnating due to a lack of social contact. The state, represented by the Ministry of Justice, claims that strict control is necessary and that the conditions of sentencing do not violate human rights.• Storrvik believes that the most important change that must take place is that Breivik gets in contact with other prisoners, and that the sentencing regime has been stricter than the risk assessments indicate. If the appeal is not granted, it is Breivik’s wish to take the case further to the Supreme Court or the Human Rights Court. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – The sentencing conditions in Ringerike prison push the outer limits of human isolation. This is how Anders Behring Brevik’s lawyer, Øystein Storrvik, began his introductory speech in the Borgarting Court of Appeal on Monday. Storvik further said that the terrorist’s condition “stagnates because there is a lack of social contact”. The State at the Ministry of Justice, which is the opposite party, claims that strict control is necessary and that the conditions of sentencing are not in breach of human rights. Swapped budgies for guinea pigs With Anders Behring Breivik on the big screen from Ringerike prison, the Borgarting Court of Appeal will this week decide whether the state is violating his human rights in prison. Five days have been set aside for the case. Since Breivik first complained about the conditions in the prison where he is serving his terror sentence, budgies have been replaced with guinea pigs, and pictures of nature have appeared on the walls. Breivik has now had the budgies replaced by guinea pigs. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB After the civil lawsuit was assessed by the Oslo district court, some changes were made, but essentially the terms of the sentence are the same for the 45-year-old. Breivik is serving his sentence in a closed complex of cells and rooms where he has access to: training room work cell sleeping cell social zones for visitors, food and television with video games. Breivik’s cell facility is spread over two floors in addition to an airing yard with an exit from the first floor. On the second floor, parts of the hallway have been wallpapered with pictures of nature. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB After many years with a visiting friend, Breivik does not associate with civilians today. He is considered too dangerous to associate with others in prison, or they may pose a danger to him. Government attorney Kristoffer Nerland said in his introduction in the Court of Appeal this afternoon that the terrorist Anders Behring Breivik is still dangerous and that the conditions of sentencing at Ringerike prison are correct. Government attorney Kristoffer Nerland believes that ABB’s sentencing conditions are correct. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB – There is nothing to suggest that Breivik is no longer a violent right-wing extremist. In violation of the human rights convention – Øystein Storrvik, what are your most important claims when you have today started the appeal process about the conditions of sentencing in Ringerike prison? – It is the duration. It has now been 13.5 years, and we perceive that as a very static situation over the years. We believe that substantial relief should have been made in those years, and that you have thus come into a problem according to the human rights convention and the requirements you have for serving sentences. Defends Øystein Storrvik in the Borgarting Court of Appeal. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB Storrvik believes the most important change that needs to be made is contact with other prisoners. – It is the real opportunity you have for contact with fellow human beings when you are serving such a serious and long sentence as Breivik. Contact with fellow prisoners. That is the first step. – How could it have been solved? – To be together with others, based on a certain selection, in a department with high security, replies Storrvik. He adds that the risk assessments have been “quite sober throughout”. – But we believe that the regime has not been harmonized in relation to these assessments. There has been a stricter regime than what the risk assessments substantiate. That is our main position. Brevik is considered by the Human Rights Court – Shouldn’t the sentencing conditions say something about what punishment Breivik is sentenced to? – The sentencing conditions in a custodial sentence will always be based on what you have been sentenced for. But when 13.5 years have passed, you have to look at the real need for interventional measures, says Storrvik. The lawyer says they now hope to be upheld in that this “runs afoul of Norway’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights to adapt the conditions better for Breivik”. – If it is not upheld this time, is the case closed? – It is Breivik’s wish to eventually proceed further, but to try to have it assessed as a matter of principle for the Supreme Court. Possibly further in the Human Rights Court. It is a natural race. And it has been seven years since it was last assessed in that series, so we believe it is time to make an assessment. It has been twice as long as the last time it was assessed, concludes lawyer Øystein Storrvik. Published 09.12.2024, at 15.45
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