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Indian Express
6 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Norway's deadliest terrorist calls 3-room prison cell with PlayStation, treadmill ‘unjust punishment'
Anders Behring Breivik, Norway's most infamous prisoner, responsible for killing 77 people in a single day shooting spree, continues to wage his campaign against the Norwegian state. Imprisoned for over a decade, his methods don't include bullets and bombs, but instead, lawsuits and petulant demands. Despite being housed in a prison that provides him with three personal rooms, access to college classes, and amenities such as a coffee maker and a PlayStation, Breivik argues that his rights are being infringed upon and he exists virtually in solitude. The reason behind that is complex. Breivik's actions were so incomprehensible, his own safety is at risk if placed with other inmates. Also, Breivik has refused to abandon his fight against multiculturalism in Europe, one that takes particular offence to the influx of Muslim immigrants. While Breivik can't physically harm those he deem responsible, his words and correspondence with far right groups could inspire future attacks. Even Norway, known for its overwhelmingly progressive blueprint for incarceration, can't risk a repeat of what happened 14 years ago. The sun was unusually bright on July 22, 2011, when Breivik stepped out of his mother's flat in Skøyen, a quiet neighbourhood on the outskirts of Oslo. Dressed like Norwegian police officer, Breivik loaded his unassuming white van with an assault rifle, a homemade bomb and 950kg of fertiliser packed into containers, wires coiled and set to detonate. By the time the sun went down that day, 77 people – mostly teenagers – were dead at his hands. Norway has tried, again and again, to forget him. But Breivik does not let them. He has not disappeared quietly into the walls of his prison. Instead, for over a decade, he has staged legal battles, given Nazi salutes in courtrooms, sued the government over his prison conditions, and, in 2016, won a case claiming his human rights were being violated by keeping him in solitary confinement. Breivik, Norway's most infamous prisoner, still wages his campaign—not of bullets and bombs, but of lawsuits, ailments, and petulant demands, testing the limits of a country that has asked the world: what is justice, and how much compassion can a society bear? On that devastating afternoon in 2011, Breivik, meticulously prepared, seemed calm on the surface. At 3:25 p.m., he shattered the heart of downtown Oslo. Shards of glass and chunks of concrete rained down as the government quarter erupted. Eight dead, dozens wounded, the epicentre of a nation transformed into a war zone. Before leaving, Breivik had uploaded a 1,500-page compendium, a feverish manifesto, compiled from far-right forums and history lessons, sent to over a thousand self-styled 'patriots,' and paired with a self-produced video on YouTube. In it, he described how Norway had been devastated by immigration with a 'Muslim invasion' risking the future of Scandinavia. Oslo was just the beginning. With a fake identity card, Breivik boarded a ferry to Utøya island, a wooded refuge 30 miles from Oslo where the Labour Party's youth wing had its annual summer camp. Hundreds of teenagers were present, learning, swimming and singing under the Norwegian sun. Breivik moved methodically, earplugs shielding him from the sound of his own semi-automatic fire. 'Come and play with me,' he jeered as he hunted the terrified teens. 'Don't be shy.' Some swam for the mainland, only to be shot in the water. Others played dead; Breivik checked for signs of life before moving on, kicking bodies until he was sure they were lifeless. As darkness crept in, he used a torch to scan the landscape, illuminating potential victims in a horrific game of hide and seek. 'There were two kids hiding in a ditch,' remembered 16-year-old Edvard Fornes. 'They were saying, 'Please, please don't shoot us.' And he shot them.' Local residents, hearing the gunfire from across the lake, piloted a flotilla of motorboats and fishing dinghies toward the island. They plucked shivering, bleeding survivors from the water, their small vessels bobbing under the weight of tragedy. Still, Breivik ploughed on, eventually placing the emergency call that would end his reign of terror. Introducing himself as 'Commander Anders Breivik of the Norwegian anti-communist resistance movement,' he said he was ready to give himself up but ended the call abruptly and resumed his shooting spree for another 20 minutes. Finally, he called the police a second time, said he'd completed his operation and was ready to surrender. When police finally arrested Breivik, he was still wearing earplugs. He said he was surprised he hadn't been stopped earlier, and that he'd expected to be killed before reaching the island. Breivik later told his lawyer, Geir Lippestad, that he was 'at war with the world' and that he had taken stimulants to stay awake during the massacre. When Breivik's rampage ended, so began his ceaseless campaign against Norway's forbearance. Even at his arrest, still covered in the blood of his victims, he complained when offered slippers instead of shoes. He demanded a Band-Aid for a finger he believed he injured when a victim's skull splintered under gunfire. 'You'll get no fucking plasters from me,' said one officer. Breivik threatened to collapse. In the end, he got the bandage. Throughout his incarceration, this dynamic of complaint and concession has played out in the most excruciating ways. Breivik's 2012 trial was part spectacle, part torture for survivors: he entered the courtroom with a clenched-fist salute and reaffirmed his allegiance, not to Christ, but to Odin, the Norse god of war. 'There are only two just and fair outcomes in this case,' he told the court – 'acquittal or capital punishment.' Norway, which abolished the death penalty in 1905, could administer neither; its maximum sentence is twenty-one years, with extensions if the convict is deemed dangerous. Retribution is not the foundation of Norwegian justice. In Norway, the criminal justice system is built on restorative ideals and incarceration is designed to heal, not simply punish. 99 per cent of sentences are less than a year and the average time served is just eight months. Breivik received the maximum sentence meaning now he'll potentially serve considerably less time that most of his victims spent alive. Breivik's prison life – first at Ila Prison near Oslo, then at Skien, and since 2023 at Ringerike Prison – must then feel shocking to those familiar with detention centers in other parts of the world. His current cell at Ringerike is a two-storey complex, roughly 340 square feet, with a kitchen, dining room, and TV room equipped with an Xbox. Black-and-white photos of the Eiffel Tower adorn the walls. To put that in perspective, a 340 square foot apartment in Mumbai's Jogeshwari sells for approximately Rs 1.4 crore. With a median wage of 19 lakhs per year, the average Mumbai resident would have to save 100 per cent of their income for nine years to enjoy the amount of space Breivik is occupying. In addition, he has a treadmill, fridge, DVD player, PlayStation, and a typewriter at his desk. He takes distance-learning courses at Norway's main university, has access to television, radio, and newspapers, and even entered a prison Christmas gingerbread-house baking contest. Yet, he's held in near-total isolation, barred from speaking to other inmates, with limited phone access and censored letters. He gets one hour outside daily, pacing a small yard under watch. This isolation sparked a legal saga. In 2012, Breivik complained about his conditions, from cold coffee to insufficient butter for his bread. He once demanded a PlayStation 3 instead of a 2, calling the old model outdated. In 2016, he sued Norway, arguing that his solitary confinement violated the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits 'inhuman or degrading treatment.' Testifying in a makeshift courtroom at Skien Prison, he claimed isolation had damaged his brain, admitting he'd grown fond of a reality dating show as a result. Judge Helen Andenaes Sekulic agreed, ruling his treatment breached his rights and ordering reduced isolation, plus 331,000 kroner (about $40,600) for his legal fees. The verdict stunned Norway. 'What a pathetic verdict,' Silje Grytten, a Labor Party political adviser, posted on Twitter. 'The court has gone a bit too far now, wanting Norway to be the best boy in class when it comes to human rights,' survivor Viljar Hanssen, who'd been shot 5 times and watched his friend die in front of him, said on NRK Radio. But Breivik's victory was short-lived. The courts, first Norwegian, then European, eventually agreed that the man who killed seventy-seven people was not, in fact, a victim. Since then, his complaints about the lack of art in his cells or the prison's failure to provide moisturiser, have found little sympathy. At Ringerike, where he has access to a small gym and a pet budgie, he continues to argue his isolation is torture, but courts have upheld the state's position. His attacks however, shifted Norway's political landscape. By 2013, a conservative-led coalition, including the anti-immigrant Progress Party, of which Breivik's was once a member, took power, replacing a social democrat-environmentalist alliance. The Progress Party has since distanced itself from Breivik, condemning his actions, though debates about immigration have intensified. Across the border, Erik Hellsborn of Sweden's anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats wrote, 'In a Norwegian Norway this tragedy would never have happened. This was caused by multiculturalism.' The sentiment, while controversial, reflects a growing right-wing unease in Scandinavia. For survivors like Bjorn Magnus Ihler, who hid on Utøya as bullets flew, Norway's treatment of Breivik is indicative of the nation's core values. 'If he is deemed not to be dangerous any more after 21 years, then he should be released,' Ihler told The New York Times. 'That's staying true to our principles, and the best evidence that he hasn't changed our society.' Yet, as Støre laid wreaths at Høyblokka on this 14th anniversary, the lakefront memorial at Tyrifjorden stood as a quieter reminder: 77 names carved into stone, a nation forever altered, and a killer who, from his cushioned cell, still demands to be heard.
Mint
6 minutes ago
- Mint
EU Readies €100 Billion No-Deal Plan to Match US 30% Tariff
The European Union plans to quickly hit the US with 30% tariffs on some €100 billion worth of goods in the event of no deal and if US President Donald Trump carries through with his threat to impose that rate on most of the bloc's exports after Aug. 1. As a part of a first wave of countermeasures, the EU would combine an already approved list of tariffs on €21 billion of US goods and a previously proposed list on an additional €72 billion of American products into one package, an European Commission spokesman said on Wednesday. The US exports, which include industrial goods such as Boeing Co. aircraft, US-made cars and bourbon whiskey, would face a levy that matches Trump's 30% threat, according to people familiar with the matter. The tariffs would be prepared to come into force next month but only if there is no deal and the US implements its levies after the August deadline, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The plans come as EU member states, including Germany, have hardened their positions in response to the US stiffening its negotiating stance. Berlin would be willing to even support the activation of the EU's anti-coercion instrument, or ACI, in a no-deal scenario, a government official said on condition of anonymity. This tool would come into play only if a deal fails to materialize. Explainer: All About the EU's Trade Weapon of Last Resort The ACI is the bloc's most potent trade tool and a growing number of member states is pushing for its use if a deal isn't reached. The instrument is primarily designed as a deterrent and is currently not on the table, with its activation requiring a qualified majority of member states to support the move. The ACI would enable the EU to launch a broad range of retaliatory actions, including new taxes on US tech giants, targeted curbs on US investments, and limiting access to the EU market. 'We are now approaching the decisive phase in the tariff dispute with the USA. We need a fair, reliable agreement with low tariffs,' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday after a meeting with his Czech counterpart Petr Fiala. 'Without such an agreement, we risk economic uncertainty at a time when we actually need exactly the opposite.' Still, the overwhelming preference is to keep negotiations with Washington on track in a bid for an outcome to the impasse ahead of next month's deadline. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
News18
31 minutes ago
- News18
Israeli military says Gaza church was struck accidentally
Agency: Last Updated: Jerusalem, Jul 23 (AP) Israeli military on Wednesday said a church in Gaza was struck accidentally. The Holy Family Church in Gaza City was struck last week by an Israeli shell, an attack that killed three, wounded 10 and damaged the church's compound. The military said an internal inquiry found the church was hit after an 'unintentional deviation of munitions." The strike drew condemnation from Pope Leo XIV and US President Donald Trump, and prompted statements of regret from Israel. Holy Family is the only Catholic church in Gaza. Top church leaders from the Holy Land visited the site a day after the incident and said they encountered a Gaza 'almost totally destroyed." (AP) NPK NPK Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
