Anders Breivik should not be denied human rights, says Utøya survivor Bjorn Ihler
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Strong words from a survivor of the massacre.
By Sarah Ann Harris
A survivor of Anders Breivik’s massacre on the island of Utøya has defended a legal decision that the mass murderer’s human rights were being violated in prison.
Breivik was convicted of terrorism and mass murder and jailed for 21 years in 2012, after killing 77 people in attacks on two parts of Norway in 2011.
The Oslo district court ruled on Wednesday that his prison conditions breached the European Convention on Human Rights prohibiting inhuman and degrading treatment.
The verdict drew horrified reactions from many.
But speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, massacre survivor Bjørn Ihler said that although Breivik had denied his victims humanity, that did not justify them doing the same to him.
He said: “I think it’s an extremely balanced decision. I think it shows great strength from the court’s side that they were able to see that there might be faults in the ways in which the Norwegian imprisonment system ...
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