Oslo Court Rules Norway Violated Mass Murderer Breivik's Human Rights

Today, the Oslo District Court ruled that Breivik's prison conditions constitute "inhuman treatment," noting that the rightwing extremist had been held in isolation for almost five years. As part of the ruling, the state will have to pay Breivik's attorney fees of some 330,000 kroner (roughly $40,000), Norway's national broadcaster NRK reported.

In July 2011, Breivik killed eight people in a bombing outside a government building in Oslo and then proceeded to murder another 69, most of them teenagers, in a shootout rampage at a Labor Youth camp on the island of Utøya. During his shooting spree, he methodically stalked and murdered future members of the Labor Party, which he blamed for the rise of multiculturalism in the Nordic country.

Since the day of his arrest, Breivik has been held apart from other prisoners and his contacts with the outside world, including visits and correspondence, have been strictly controlled.

At the Skien Prison located some 130 kilometers from Oslo, Breivik has three cells at his disposal: one for living, one for studying and one for physical exercise. He also has a TV-set with a DVD player, a games console, a computer without Internet access, as well as books and newspapers, approved by the authorities.

Earlier, the state lawyers argued that incarceration was necessary as Breivik was "extremely dangerous," arguing that his conditions fell "well within the limits of what is permitted" under the European convention.

Ironically, Norway prides itself on its humane penitentiary system, which is rather aimed at rehabilitation than punishment. "The crimes my client was accused of are irrelevant," attorney Øystein Storrvik told the court when presenting the 37-year-old's lawsuit against the Norwegian state.