Berliner Boersenzeitung - Release Breivik? Norway court hears closing arguments

EUR -
AED 3.846458
AFN 71.211176
ALL 97.412843
AMD 406.811894
ANG 1.887241
AOA 956.640935
ARS 1051.428592
AUD 1.608171
AWG 1.887622
AZN 1.787721
BAM 1.94682
BBD 2.114156
BDT 125.138011
BGN 1.955509
BHD 0.394704
BIF 3034.333258
BMD 1.047225
BND 1.407209
BOB 7.235625
BRL 6.090347
BSD 1.047075
BTN 88.4754
BWP 14.296058
BYN 3.427092
BYR 20525.602023
BZD 2.110863
CAD 1.463847
CDF 3005.534618
CHF 0.928583
CLF 0.03695
CLP 1019.567969
CNY 7.576459
CNH 7.597437
COP 4597.630131
CRC 532.296452
CUC 1.047225
CUP 27.751452
CVE 110.613091
CZK 25.354142
DJF 186.112546
DKK 7.458821
DOP 63.25565
DZD 139.901282
EGP 52.012714
ERN 15.708369
ETB 129.23088
FJD 2.379611
FKP 0.826592
GBP 0.831973
GEL 2.853676
GGP 0.826592
GHS 16.598349
GIP 0.826592
GMD 74.352935
GNF 9037.548191
GTQ 8.083713
GYD 219.089433
HKD 8.150638
HNL 26.363899
HRK 7.470124
HTG 137.485836
HUF 411.088281
IDR 16675.428446
ILS 3.890063
IMP 0.826592
INR 88.480582
IQD 1372.387829
IRR 44093.391567
ISK 146.108348
JEP 0.826592
JMD 166.302915
JOD 0.742584
JPY 161.458939
KES 135.614106
KGS 90.595555
KHR 4241.259434
KMF 491.829597
KPW 942.501737
KRW 1466.554465
KWD 0.322158
KYD 0.872675
KZT 519.294876
LAK 22997.052059
LBP 93778.962407
LKR 304.684618
LRD 188.762185
LSL 18.965252
LTL 3.092182
LVL 0.633456
LYD 5.115689
MAD 10.486854
MDL 19.069043
MGA 4891.586326
MKD 61.525564
MMK 3401.344628
MNT 3558.469111
MOP 8.394618
MRU 41.799981
MUR 48.593488
MVR 16.179757
MWK 1817.981712
MXN 21.385321
MYR 4.675828
MZN 66.925952
NAD 18.964918
NGN 1774.186923
NIO 38.527419
NOK 11.597222
NPR 141.561038
NZD 1.78822
OMR 0.403194
PAB 1.04717
PEN 3.974207
PGK 4.216653
PHP 61.815578
PKR 291.021899
PLN 4.344987
PYG 8218.776313
QAR 3.812683
RON 4.977038
RSD 116.989628
RUB 106.083365
RWF 1435.744917
SAR 3.931627
SBD 8.750118
SCR 14.091129
SDG 629.903184
SEK 11.589368
SGD 1.409667
SHP 0.826592
SLE 23.651533
SLL 21959.781063
SOS 598.485238
SRD 37.077012
STD 21675.434737
SVC 9.162736
SYP 2631.183058
SZL 18.975788
THB 36.383713
TJS 11.152657
TMT 3.675758
TND 3.301902
TOP 2.452702
TRY 36.169354
TTD 7.108213
TWD 34.046633
TZS 2777.615603
UAH 43.232448
UGX 3869.006119
USD 1.047225
UYU 44.622895
UZS 13488.252609
VES 48.454165
VND 26623.067216
VUV 124.328608
WST 2.923423
XAF 652.945238
XAG 0.034027
XAU 0.000392
XCD 2.830177
XDR 0.798815
XOF 651.373441
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.711912
ZAR 18.966175
ZMK 9426.275251
ZMW 28.876803
ZWL 337.205892
  • RBGPF

    -0.5000

    59.69

    -0.84%

  • BCC

    2.9500

    140.36

    +2.1%

  • SCS

    -0.0300

    13.04

    -0.23%

  • NGG

    -0.1700

    63.1

    -0.27%

  • GSK

    0.3500

    33.7

    +1.04%

  • CMSC

    0.1200

    24.64

    +0.49%

  • CMSD

    0.1850

    24.445

    +0.76%

  • RYCEF

    0.1800

    6.79

    +2.65%

  • RELX

    0.6500

    45.76

    +1.42%

  • VOD

    -0.1000

    8.84

    -1.13%

  • RIO

    0.1800

    62.57

    +0.29%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.23

    0%

  • BCE

    -0.3200

    26.68

    -1.2%

  • BTI

    -0.1000

    36.98

    -0.27%

  • BP

    0.4400

    29.52

    +1.49%

  • AZN

    1.0600

    64.26

    +1.65%

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)