Norway mass killer tests limits of lenient justice system

[turbinetree]

By MARK LEWIS
today

STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Convicted mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik spends his days in a spacious three-room cell, playing video games, exercising, watching TV and taking university-level courses in mathematics and business.

Halfway through a 21-year sentence and seeking early release, Breivik, 42, is being treated in a way that might seem shocking to people outside of Norway, where he killed eight in an Oslo bombing in 2011, and then stalked and gunned down 69 people, mostly teens, at a summer camp.

But here — no matter how wicked the crime — convicts benefit from a criminal justice system that is designed to offer prisoners some of the comforts and opportunities of life on the outside.

https://apnews.com/article/science-norway-europe-oslo-crime-bdd56073c42dc2066640095d7e62b048

-snip-

During a three-day parole hearing this week that was broadcast to journalists, Breivik renounced violence, but also flashed a Nazi salute and espoused white supremacy, echoing ideas in a manifesto he released at the time of his killing spree. The outburst was familiar to Norwegians who had watched him deliver rambling diatribes during his partially televised criminal trial.

[3Hotdogs]

1. 21 year prison sentence....

When he gets out, he will do it again.

[turbinetree]

2. He really doesn't care....he killed 72 people and didn't even think it was wrong...

[Mariana]

3. It's very unlikely he will ever get out. nt.

[ColinC]

4. .

While the maximum prison sentence in Norway is 21 years, the law was amended in 2002 so that, in rare cases, sentences can be extended indefinitely in five-year increments if someone is still considered a danger to the public.

[3Hotdogs]

5. Yeah, but will the European court of human rights support the extension of his prison term?

[ColinC]

6. If he's still screaming white supremacist lines and heil Hitler's, I imagine yes.