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Norwegian Mass Murderer Says Prison ‘Inhumane’ — Court Disagrees

Joseph Lafave Contributor
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Anders Behring Breivik, the far-right Norwegian terrorist who killed 77 people in 2011, will remain in his prison cell for the remainder of his sentence, says the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). According to Reuters, Breivik filed an appeal with the ECHR after his appeals to several courts in Norway were dismissed.

In 2016, Breivik filed a motion with the Oslo district court to remove him from solitary status. The court agreed but the ruling was later overturned by a Norwegian appeals court. The Norwegian supreme court refused to hear the case, and Breivik eventually brought the matter to the ECHR. The ECHR is a multinational tribunal made up of the 47 member countries of the Council of Europe, which signed The European Convention on Human Rights in 1950. It is located in Strasbourg, France, and is separate from both the United Nations International Court of Justice and the EU’s Court of Justice of the European Union.

Breivik, who changed his name to Fjotolf Hansen, cited his isolation from the other prisoners and the lack of privacy in prison as the reasons behind the appeal reports Deutsche Welle.

“Ultimately, the High Court found in an appeal case that there had been no violations of his rights under Article 3 (prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading torture) or Article 8 (right to privacy and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights,” Officials from the ECHR said in a press release. “The decision is final.”

That means that Breivik will have to serve the remainder of his 21-year sentence inside the three-room cell and will continue to be subjected to strip searches while having no contact with the other inmates.

According to Reuters, Norwegian officials have placed Breivik in isolation due to fears that he would be attacked by other inmates.