Norway to appeal Anders Breivik human rights ruling

OSLO, Norway, April 26 (UPI) -- Norway is fighting a verdict won by mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik for his treatment in prison.

The justice ministry on Tuesday asked the attorney general to appeal the decision that backed Breivik's claim of "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Breivik, who killed 69 people at a summer camp for young political activists on Utoeya island in July of 2011 after setting off a car bomb that killed eight in Oslo, challenged his solitary confinement of 22 to 23 hours a day.

Judge Helen Andenaes Sekulic agreed, ruling even "terrorists and killers" should have "a fundamental value in a democratic society."

But the ministry justice said it disagreed that his prison conditions were inhuman and degrading as described in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The government said it would give more details about the appeal later.

Decisions by district judges can be heard by the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court, the country's highest court. Afterward, it can be heard by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, which can overrule Norwegian law

Breivik is serving a 21-year sentence.