Berliner Boersenzeitung - Release Breivik? Norway court hears closing arguments

EUR -
AED 4.293297
AFN 80.91457
ALL 97.787182
AMD 448.803483
ANG 2.092137
AOA 1072.008381
ARS 1473.86814
AUD 1.776114
AWG 2.107191
AZN 1.992006
BAM 1.954944
BBD 2.359867
BDT 142.117771
BGN 1.954944
BHD 0.440707
BIF 3482.375178
BMD 1.169038
BND 1.495545
BOB 8.093456
BRL 6.502078
BSD 1.168788
BTN 100.194128
BWP 15.604167
BYN 3.824825
BYR 22913.14706
BZD 2.347672
CAD 1.60129
CDF 3373.844424
CHF 0.930865
CLF 0.029161
CLP 1110.323824
CNY 8.380309
CNH 8.386416
COP 4691.84559
CRC 589.441902
CUC 1.169038
CUP 30.97951
CVE 110.21674
CZK 24.665189
DJF 208.128867
DKK 7.461795
DOP 70.379183
DZD 151.705573
EGP 57.855667
ERN 17.535572
ETB 161.021794
FJD 2.621276
FKP 0.865796
GBP 0.866082
GEL 3.16855
GGP 0.865796
GHS 12.154678
GIP 0.865796
GMD 83.590727
GNF 10140.559771
GTQ 8.978069
GYD 244.522931
HKD 9.175551
HNL 30.573613
HRK 7.533988
HTG 153.40283
HUF 399.5543
IDR 18972.787189
ILS 3.894218
IMP 0.865796
INR 100.333285
IQD 1531.029611
IRR 49231.122092
ISK 142.400984
JEP 0.865796
JMD 186.898163
JOD 0.828894
JPY 171.328427
KES 151.00388
KGS 102.232832
KHR 4685.948172
KMF 492.340851
KPW 1052.116012
KRW 1612.291055
KWD 0.357481
KYD 0.973974
KZT 610.66261
LAK 25187.970987
LBP 104720.046415
LKR 351.4761
LRD 234.337391
LSL 20.841074
LTL 3.451866
LVL 0.70714
LYD 6.314235
MAD 10.527091
MDL 19.787336
MGA 5177.732835
MKD 61.508068
MMK 2454.245682
MNT 4196.950222
MOP 9.450262
MRU 46.492642
MUR 53.144915
MVR 18.007558
MWK 2026.612611
MXN 21.771042
MYR 4.971339
MZN 74.772119
NAD 20.841074
NGN 1786.89858
NIO 43.011167
NOK 11.839321
NPR 160.310805
NZD 1.945479
OMR 0.4495
PAB 1.168788
PEN 4.144385
PGK 4.831884
PHP 66.037214
PKR 332.363469
PLN 4.253138
PYG 9058.033774
QAR 4.260834
RON 5.081579
RSD 117.098726
RUB 91.189371
RWF 1688.860502
SAR 4.384482
SBD 9.733981
SCR 16.480784
SDG 702.011685
SEK 11.176827
SGD 1.494854
SHP 0.91868
SLE 26.307644
SLL 24514.149043
SOS 667.907544
SRD 43.49699
STD 24196.728708
SVC 10.226522
SYP 15199.796755
SZL 20.847871
THB 37.929486
TJS 11.295954
TMT 4.103324
TND 3.419503
TOP 2.738009
TRY 46.93731
TTD 7.940523
TWD 34.1849
TZS 3029.973271
UAH 48.831018
UGX 4189.165697
USD 1.169038
UYU 47.259307
UZS 14766.534203
VES 133.584256
VND 30528.845862
VUV 139.77719
WST 3.204584
XAF 655.669903
XAG 0.030453
XAU 0.000348
XCD 3.159384
XDR 0.815443
XOF 655.669903
XPF 119.331742
YER 282.732293
ZAR 20.949587
ZMK 10522.750076
ZMW 27.056153
ZWL 376.429796
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Release Breivik? Norway court hears closing arguments
Release Breivik? Norway court hears closing arguments

Release Breivik? Norway court hears closing arguments

Prosecution and defence lawyers presented their closing arguments on Thursday to a Norwegian court which will now decide whether to parole Anders Behring Breivik, just 10 years after the neo-Nazi committed the country's deadliest peacetime attack.

Text size:

Breivik, who killed 77 people in twin attacks in 2011, claims he has distanced himself from violence and wants to be paroled after serving the minimum court-ordered 10 years of his 21-year sentence. His jail term can be extended for as long as he is considered a threat to society.

Prosecutor Hulda Karlsdottir called his parole request a "PR stunt" and argued that 42-year-old Breivik, who a psychiatrist and prison officials said was still extremely dangerous, should remain behind bars.

The defence meanwhile used the opportunity to ask for an easing of Breivik's prison conditions to facilitate his future reintegration into society.

Breivik's request for early release is widely expected to be denied.

On July 22, 2011, the right-wing extremist set off a truck bomb near the government offices in Oslo, killing eight people, before heading to the island of Utoya where, disguised as a police officer, he gunned down 69 others, mostly teens, attending a Labour Party youth wing summer camp.

He said he killed his victims because they embraced multiculturalism.

Speaking before the court earlier this week, Breivik gave his "word" that he had renounced violence -- which he said was the result of his "brainwashing" -- and said he now wanted to work for the neo-Nazi movement in a non-violent manner.

"The Breivik who is asking us to trust him is the same Breivik who destroyed the government offices and called it a fiasco", prosecutor Karlsdottir said in her closing arguments.

- Publicity stunt -

"He's the same criminal who drew youths on Utoya toward him, tricking them into thinking they would get help, and then fired on them", she told the district court for the southern district of Telemark.

The court's three-day hearing was held for security reasons in the gymnasium of the Skien prison where Breivik is incarcerated.

Karlsdottir echoed criticism from the families of victims, survivors and experts this week, saying Breivik's parole hearing was just a "PR stunt" aimed at improving his prison conditions and an opportunity for him to reach out to people who share his views.

"He thrives on this publicity. He's beaming. I find this hard to watch in a case like this", Karlsdottir said.

In the manifesto he published online just before carrying out his attacks, Breivik wrote that court proceedings should be used to spread propaganda.

Throughout his hearing, which began on Tuesday, he greeted the judges with Nazi salutes and held long ideological tirades on "white supremacy" and "culture wars".

His defence lawyer formally submitted a request for his early release but appeared to acknowledge that was unlikely, spending most of his closing argument calling for an easing of Breivik's isolation.

- No exceptions to the law -

Breivik is held apart from other inmates, with visits and contacts to the outside world heavily restricted to prevent him from building networks capable of carrying out new attacks.

His lawyer, Oystein Storrvik, argued this was counter-productive. "If you want to reduce the risk of recidivism, you have to allow contact with other people."

Storrvik said this was a necessary condition for rehabilitation and future reintegration into society, which is the main goal of the Norwegian prison system.

"It's a paradox if a person is so poorly treated in prison that he has no chance of rehabilitation and thereby no chance of being released," he said.

The parole hearing has been seen as a test of Norway's rule of law and has reopened old wounds.

"Personally I think he should be held for 21 years times 77, and even longer", said the head of the support group for the families of the victims, Lisbeth Kristine Royneland.

"But you can't change the Norwegian legal system. We just have to treat him like an ordinary prisoner and not make any exceptions to the law, because that would just give him even more attention", Royneland, who lost her 18-year-old daughter on Utoya, told AFP.

The court's decision is expected within the next three weeks, chief judge Dag Bjorvik said as proceedings wrapped up.

If parole is denied, Breivik will in theory be eligible to apply again after one year.

(L.Kaufmann--BBZ)