Andres Breivik keeps parrots in prison, studies political science, costs taxpayers 16,000 crowns (half a million forints) a day, and has a two-story complex at his disposal where he can play video games, cook, or exercise in the gym.
Thirteen years after the massacre, Andres Breivik, who executed seventy-seven young people in a youth camp after detonating an inferno in downtown Oslo, is appearing before a judge for the third time. The Norwegian man lives in solitary confinement, has nine years left of his prison sentence, but now he has sued the state again because he wants to be released as soon as possible. He would exchange his birds for people and prison for university.
The trial of one of Norway's most dangerous men, Anders Breivik, will begin on Monday morning in a rather unusual location and under circumstances. The 44-year-old has repeatedly sued the state for what he says are inadequate conditions. Breivik has no company other than three tiny birds, while he has his own gym and, if that wasn't enough, he even has a TV room where he can play video games to his heart's content. The extremist mass murderer, on the other hand, has once again had enough of eternal loneliness and would like to get rid of the circumstances, so he is trying to corner the Norwegian state for the second time.
It is guarded for half a million a day
A year and a half ago, Anders Breivik needed a change of atmosphere, so he was transferred from the usual prison in Skien to the Ringerike penitentiary near Oslo. He could not avoid solitary confinement here either, but he now has a two-story complex at his disposal.
Photos on the wall, candles on the coffee table and leather sofas in front of the TV - at first it may seem like a cozy living room, only the bars on the window reveal that this is not a room in an ordinary apartment. This is just one of the rooms that Breivik can use any day of the year if he feels like it. If you get bored of playing video games, you can cook in your kitchen or exercise in the gym.
"We have tried to provide a program that is as close to normality as possible for a person with a particularly high security level"
- said prison director Eirik Bergstedt earlier.
In the last twenty years, fourteen people who were considered especially dangerous for some reason were in Norwegian prisons, but they did not receive the same care as Breivik.
Ringerikei received a grant of 15.5 million kroner in 2023 to cover its costs, most of which went only to care for Breivik. The Norwegian terrorist costs taxpayers 6,145,000 kroner annually, which translates to more than 16,000 kroner, or half a million forints, for the prison every day. In addition to his care, this sum also covers costs such as the wages of the guards. The outstanding treatment is clearly shown by the fact that other prisoners receive only a fifth of this.
You can study political science, but you can't get a degree
"All convicts in Norway have the right to pursue higher studies if they have a suitable academic qualification. Breivik therefore applied to university programs that could theoretically lead to a degree - he was accepted by us. Meets the criteria”
- explained Marina Tofting, spokesperson of the University of Oslo.
However, you won't be able to get a degree, as five of the course's nine compulsory subjects require you to stay on campus to attend seminars. As he is currently living in complete isolation, with no access to the internet and no contact with teachers or students, it is questionable how he will be able to complete the rest of the training. According to political science professor Dag Harald Claes, Breivik may only have some chance if his detention is reduced or released.
The latter, whether it can ever happen at all, is still in question. He received the highest sentence under Norwegian criminal law when the court sentenced him to 21 years in prison. Even if he serves his sentence, even then it is not certain that he will be able to leave freely, because the court can also decide that the man is still a danger to society.
Discussion in the gym
In order to alleviate his circumstances, Breivik sued the state for the second time after he felt that he could no longer bear the loneliness caused by solitary confinement. For the second time in a series of five-day negotiations, the Norwegian state is forced to discuss whether the man's complaint has merit.
The man declared guilty claims that he is suffering from his punishment both mentally and physically, and has been taking anti-depression medication for a long time because of this.
In recent weeks, the court has continued to call Breivik a dangerous convict, so the hearing can begin at a special location. The gymnasium of the Ringerike prison is being set up as a makeshift court, so the convicted man would have no chance to escape from the heavily guarded facility.
The competent court also had to make a decision regarding the media, because the horrors of thirteen years ago are still preoccupying Norwegian citizens, so the various bodies also want to report on the scene. The court did not want to deprive them of this right, but it made some special rules anyway. According to this, there is no obstacle to their broadcasting, but Breivik's two-hour testimony cannot be broadcast, among other reasons, because they fear that the man still has followers to this day. Moreover, media representatives were also prohibited from broadcasting live, they can only broadcast any news about the events in the gym if they are delayed in time.
In a separate decision before Christmas, the district court decided that the review of the case, meaning that the parties and the judge enter the actual cell area where Breivik is serving his prison sentence, will take place behind closed doors. The media cannot be present either. The court also justifies this by the fact that full information about the physical conditions of the prison must be ensured, while at the same time the confidentiality requirements for security procedures must be observed.
He killed people indiscriminately
In 2011, the Norwegian man committed the country's most serious attack to date. First, he detonated an inferno machine in Oslo - killing eight people - and then a few hours later, in a police uniform, he sailed over to the nearby island of Utoya, where he shot dead 69 young people at a Norwegian Labor Party youth camp.
In 2012, Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in prison, which is the maximum sentence that can be imposed in the country, but there is also a rarely used clause, according to which the criminal can be kept locked up for any length of time, if experts see that he continues to pose a danger to society.
At his hearing in 2022, Breivik promised to give up violence and move to the Arctic. His release was then denied.
Several of the young people who were attacked are still active in politics to this day, four of the survivors of the shooting on the island recently won a parliamentary mandate, while the family members of the deceased still come to terms with what happened only if Breivik remains in his cell in the company of the three budgies.
Featured image: REUTERS
