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, AP reported
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.
The hearing is due to last three days, but the verdict will not be announced for several weeks.
It was July 22, 2011, when, after months of meticulous preparations, Breivik set off a car bomb outside the government headquarters in Oslo, killing eight people and wounding dozens. He then drove to the island of Utoya, where he opened fire on the annual summer camp of the left-wing Labor Party’s youth wing. Sixty-nine people there were killed, most of them teenagers, before Breivik surrendered to police.
In 2012 Breivik was handed the maximum 21-year sentence with a clause—rarely used in the Norwegian justice system—that he can be held indefinitely if he is still considered a danger to society. It is this clause that means he can demand a parole hearing after 10 years. And while this likely means a lifelong sentence, it also opens the possibility that Breivik can demand annual parole hearings where he can broadcast his views, says Berit Johnsen, research professor at University College of Norwegian Correctional Service.
Oystein Storrvik, Breivik’s defense lawyer, confirmed that Breivik will call the Swedish neo-Nazi Per Oberg to speak in his defense. He would not otherwise outline the basis of Breivik’s case, but made it clear that nobody should expect contrition.
At the time of the attacks, Breivik claimed to be the commander of a secret Christian military order plotting an anti-Muslim revolution in Europe. Investigators found no trace of the group. In 2016 he described himself as a traditional neo-Nazi, saying his earlier crusader image was just for show.
The court that convicted him in 2012 found him criminally sane, rejecting the prosecution’s view that he was psychotic. Breivik didn’t appeal his sentence.
