Death Penalty News

Anders Breivik SKIEN, Norway — Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik kicked off his return to court by making a Nazi salute Tuesday during his bid to improve conditions inside the Norwegian prison where he is being held in isolation for massacring 77 people in bomb-and-gun attacks. Appearing in the public eye for the first time since his conviction nearly four years ago, the 37-year-old Norwegian and his lawyers are trying to convince a judge that his prison conditions are "inhuman" and violate the European Convention on Human Rights. The government has rejected his claims, saying he is being treated humanely and with dignity despite the severity of his crimes. With a dark suit and a shaved head, Breivik was led into the gym-turned-courtroom in Skien prison, where the trial is being held for security reasons. After prison guards removed his handcuffs, Breivik turned to journalists covering the hearing and stretched out his right arm in a Nazi salute. Stone-f...

SWAT team landing on Utoya Island OSLO, Norway (AP) — Anders Behring Breivik says the logical punishment for his massacre of 77 people would be either the death penalty or an acquittal. Breivik says the maximum prison term in Norway of 21 years is "pathetic." THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. OSLO, Norway (AP) — Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik's claims of belonging to a secret anti-Muslim militia appeared to crack Wednesday, as he acknowledged the supposed crusader network is "not an organization in a conventional sense." Nonetheless, the 33-year-old Norwegian, who has admitted to killing 77 people in a bomb-and-shooting massacre on July 22, insisted the mysterious group exists when questioned by prosecutors on the third day of his terror trial. "It is not in my interest to shed light on details that could lead to arrests," he said refusing to comment on the g...

Typical 3-room cell in Skien prison, Norway, where Breivik is incarcerated. Norway violated mass killer Anders Behring Breivik's human rights by keeping him in isolation in prison after being sentenced for killing 77 people in twin attacks in 2011, a Norwegian court ruled on Wednesday. Breivik took Norwegian authorities to court in March , accusing them of exposing him to inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. He protested his isolation from other inmates and from outsiders who are not professionals. "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," judge Helen Andenaes Sekulic said in her ruling. The verdict said the Norwegian state had broken Article 3 of the convention, pointing to the fact that Breivik is spending 22 to 23 hours a day alone in his cell. ...

LONDON -- Anders Behring Breivik, who has confessed to killing 77 people in a rampage last July, went on trial Monday in Oslo for Norway’s worst criminal episode since World War II. The 33-year-old right-wing extremist has admitted to slaying 69 young people gathered for an annual Labor party political camp on the Norwegian island of Utoya on July 22 after killing eight other people by detonating a homemade bomb that destroyed a government building in the center of the Norwegian capital. Breivik appeared calm and defiant as he entered the courtroom dressed in a dark suit and wearing handcuffs. He surveyed the ranks of media and public packed inside the courtroom and smiled. Family members and survivors of the attacks were in the public sector, separated from the defendant by thick glass partitions. After his handcuffs were removed he gave a raised-fist fascist style salute before sitting down and giving a brief statement, saying: “I do not recognize the Norwegian courts. ... You ...

In Norway, on Wednesday, July 21, commemorative events are held to remember the events ten years ago, when killer Anders Breivik took the life of 77 people, French news agency AFP and news portal France 24 report. ➤  Utoya  |  Find related content here On July 22, 2011, Anders Breivik, detonated a fertiliser bomb outside a government building in Oslo, killing eight persons. Then he took a ferry to the island of Utoya, located in a lake northwest of the capital owned and run by the youth league of Norway’s Labour Party, and dressed in a self-made police uniform tracked and gunned down 69 people, mostly teenagers and injured 110 more.  Police finally arrived and arrested him. ➤  Anders Breivik  |  Find related content here Subsequently, the killer was handed the maximum sentence – 21 years in prison, which can be extended indefinitely, AFP and France 24 report. Norway’s July 22, 2011, terror attack: a timeline STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — A timeline of the e...

STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik goes to court, Tuesday, after 10 years behind bars, claiming he is no longer a danger to society and attempting to get an early release from his 21-year sentence. The far right terrorist has shown no remorse since slaying 77 people in a bomb and gun massacre in 2011, and families of victims and survivors fear he will grandstand his extreme views during the hearing, which experts say is unlikely to deliver him an early release. Randi Rosenqvist, the psychiatrist who has followed up Breivik since his 2012 jailing, says “I can say that I do not detect great changes in Breivik’s functioning,” since his criminal trial when he bragged about the scale of his slaughter, or his 2016 human rights case, when he raised his hand in a Nazi salute. “In principle and practice someone seeking parole would have to show remorse, and to show that they understand why such acts cannot be repeated,” she said. She will give evidence at his...

(Reuters) - Court-appointed psychiatrists have concluded that Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is criminally insane, a prosecutor said on Tuesday, meaning he may be committed to a psychiatric institution indefinitely rather than sent to jail. Breivik killed 77 people in July by bombing central Oslo and then gunning down dozens of mostly teenagers at a summer camp for the ruling Labour Party's youth wing. "The conclusion is ... is that he is insane," prosecutor Svein Holden told a news conference. "He lives in his own delusional universe and his thoughts and acts are governed by this universe." If the court accepts the psychiatrists' conclusions, the anti-immigration militant could be held as long as he poses a threat to society and may be released if found to be healthy. Norwegian courts can challenge psychiatric evaluations or order new tests but it is rare for them to reject such a professional opinion. If the evaluation is upheld, Breivik...

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was jailed for a maximum term on Friday when judges declared him sane enough to answer for the murder of 77 people last year, drawing a smirk of triumph from the self-styled warrior against Islam. An unrepentant Breivik, 33, gave the Oslo court a stiff-armed, clench-fisted salute before being handed the steepest possible penalty, 21 years. His release, however, can be put off indefinitely should he still pose a threat to a liberal society left traumatized by his bomb and shooting rampage last July. Justifying blasting a government building and gunning down dozens of teenagers at a summer camp as a service to a nation threatened by immigration, he had said only acquittal or death would be worthy outcomes. But his biggest concern was being declared insane - the sole verdict he had said he would appeal. Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen dismissed a prosecution call for her to label Breivik mad, a ruling that would h...