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Court denies Anders Breivik's isolation appeal

By Daniel Uria
The European Court of Human Rights rejected an appeal by Anders Breivik, who was convicted of killing 77 people in a gun and bomb terror attack in Oslo in 2011, that his isolation confinement in prison violates his human rights. File Photo by Lise Aaserud/EPA
The European Court of Human Rights rejected an appeal by Anders Breivik, who was convicted of killing 77 people in a gun and bomb terror attack in Oslo in 2011, that his isolation confinement in prison violates his human rights. File Photo by Lise Aaserud/EPA

June 21 (UPI) -- The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday rejected an appeal by Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, who argued his isolation confinement in prison violates his human rights.

Breivik, who was convicted of killing 77 people in a gun and bomb terror attack in Oslo in 2011, appealed a ruling that he must remain in isolation for his 21-year sentence, which the ECHR upheld.

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"In its decision today the Strasbourg Court found that its examination of the case did not reveal any violations of the convention, and rejected the application as inadmissible for being manifestly ill- founded," the court said.

The case was sent to the ECHR after Norway's Supreme Court declined to hear Breivik's appeal in June 2017, stating none of the elements of the appeal had "any perspective of winning before the Supreme Court," adding he was extremely dangerous and had "very high risk" of committing more serious crimes.

The Oslo District Court originally found that the prison conditions violated his rights, but the state won on appeal.

The 39-year-old Breivik, who since changed his name to Fjotolf Hansen, argued his solitary confinement deeply damaged him and made him even more radical in his neo-Nazi beliefs.

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He complained of microwave meals and said frequent strip searches and being handcuffed during the beginning of his sentence were "inhumane," stating his treatment was a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which prohibits torture and "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

The Supreme Court argued he was given a three-cell living space that includes an exercise room with equipment, a DVD player, games console, typewriter, as well as books and newspapers.

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