SKIEN, Norway — Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik made a Nazi salute as he walked into a courtroom at a high-security prison where judges on Tuesday began reviewing a ruling that his solitary confinement is inhumane.
Dressed in a dark suit, the bearded Breivik stared briefly at reporters while making the salute but did not speak.
The 37-year-old right-wing extremist, who killed 77 people in a bomb and shooting rampage in 2011, sued the government last year, saying his solitary confinement, frequent strip searches and the fact that he was often handcuffed during the early part of his incarceration violated his human rights.
The government is appealing against a surprise decision by the Oslo District Court, which sided with Breivik’s claims that his isolation in the maximum-security Skien prison breaches the European Convention on Human Rights.
The ruling said “the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment represents a fundamental value in a democratic society. This applies no matter what — also in the treatment of terrorists and killers.” It also ordered the government to pay Breivik’s legal costs of 331,000 kroner ($41,000). (more...)
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