Court date with Hitler salute
Breivik applies for early release
01/18/2022, 03:21 p.m
Ten years ago, attacks by the right-wing extremist mass murderer Breivik caused horror around the world. Now a court has to decide on his request for early release. He doesn’t have a real chance, but he uses the date for relevant propaganda, including a Hitler salute.
A court hearing has begun in Norway over a parole request by convicted mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik. The decisive question for the district court of Telemark is whether the right-wing terrorist still poses an acute danger and whether society must therefore continue to be protected from him. First, prosecutor Hulda Karlsdottir addressed introductory words to the court. It was then the defense’s turn before a lengthy explanation from Breivik was scheduled.
Under Norwegian law, after serving the minimum 10-year sentence, Breivik was allowed to apply for a parole review. The public prosecutor refuses and wants him to stay behind bars in Skien prison. Negotiations are expected to continue until Thursday. It is considered unlikely that Breivik will be released.
Complaint from the court because of the poster
The 42-year-old right-wing extremist used the start of the trial for right-wing propaganda. As he entered the gymnasium of Skien prison, which had been converted into a courtroom, he held up a laptop bag with a far-right message in front of him. He had pinned a note to his lapel that read, “Stop your genocide against our white nations.” Shortly afterwards he gave the Hitler salute.
He now calls himself Fjotolf Hansen, but wished to be called Anders Behring Breivik in court. During the prosecutor’s statement, presiding judge Dag Bjørvik asked him to refrain from holding up placards with his political messages.
On July 22, 2011, Breivik killed a total of 77 people in attacks in Oslo’s government district and on the island of Utøya. He named extreme right-wing and Islamophobic motives for his actions. In 2012 he was sentenced to the maximum sentence at the time of 21 years in prison with a minimum of ten years. A custodial sentence – in Norwegian “forvaring” – means in Norwegian law, in contrast to a normal prison sentence, that the sentence can be extended every five years. It is therefore open whether Breivik will ever be released from prison.
“As little attention as possible”
The hearing will be broadcast live with a slight time delay to allow for offensive language to be muted. Supporters of the bereaved had called for “the terrorist and his messages to be given as little attention as possible”.
In court and in other statements in the past, Breivik has claimed to have renounced violence. The head of the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Oslo, Tore Bjorgo, dismissed this: Breivik “did not in any way distance himself from the mass murder he committed and which he considers perfectly legitimate,” he said . From an ideological point of view, he is “no less extremist” today. Other attacks around the world, such as Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019, were inspired by Breivik’s actions.