Mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, sentenced to Norway’s longest prison term for killing 77 people in a right-wing terrorist attack 10 years ago, still wants to be released on probation. Prosecutors refused, prompting Breivik to take the dispute back to court.
Norway has no death sentence, no sentence to life in prison and doesn’t prosecute under multiple counts that could have yielded 77 separate murder sentences in some court systems like that in the US. Breivik ended up being sentenced to 21 years in prison but with forvaring, a special provision intended to protect the public that can keep him in custody for life.
Defendants can, however, file for probation after serving 10 years, which is what Breivik did last year. When he lost, he had a right to bring his request for release on probation to court, where a judge must agree with prosecutors that Breivik can be a repeat offender.
His case is now likely to come up early next year in the court in Telemark, the region where Breivik is in prison, with the proceedings due to take place inside the prison complex for security reasons. If Breivik is denied his request for probation he will be able to file for it again, every five years.
newsinenglish.no staff
