Norway mass killer criticizes his prison

OSLO, Norway — Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik accused prison officers of trying to drive him to suicide in conditions he describes as “a mini Abu Ghraib.”

Breivik wrote a 27-page letter addressed to prison officials, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that I am an exceptionally patient person, I would most likely have lost my mind in pure frustration,” Breivik said in the letter dated Oct. 15 that was updated on Oct. 26 and Oct. 30. “Anyway, there are limits to what a person can take.”

Breivik wrote that he is frustrated that guards do not cooperate with his carefully planned daily schedule, where he times his various activities down to the minute.

“One cannot exclude that Ila Prison’s leadership has assured itself that `loyal social democrats’ dominate the ward to prevent possibly benevolent people gaining access,” Breivik said. He also alleges that the prison director keeps the security regime tight out of personal vengefulness against Breivik.

The 33-year-old right-wing fanatic killed 77 people in twin attacks last year in Norway’s worst peacetime massacre. He detonated a car bomb outside government offices in Oslo killing eight people and then drove to the island of Utoya where he massacred 69 in a shooting spree at the summer camp of the governing Labor Party’s youth wing.

Ellen Bjercke, spokeswoman at Ila Prison where Breivik is being held, said the prison had not lifted any security restrictions on Breivik in response to his letter, although he had recently been allowed a normal pen instead of a rubber safety pen, which he had also avidly used during the 10-week trial to make notes.

Breivik said the experience of having to use the stab-free pen was as “an almost indescribable manifestation of sadism.”

The self-confessed killer described numerous prison practices as “degrading” in his letter, including that he is watched when swallowing his vitamin pills, that he’s not allowed a mop to clean his cell and that he is subjected to daily strip searches, sometimes by female prison guards.

Keeping up his personal hygiene is also a challenge, he said.

“Use of a toothbrush and electric shaver is always under supervision. One is therefore under mental pressure to finish quickly as the guards are tapping their feet outside the cell … This limits brushing to once a day and shaving to once a week in order not to have to go through the mental ordeal more often than necessary,” he wrote in the letter.

“Therefore there is the likelihood that Norway’s own `mini Abu Ghraib,’ in the cellars of Ila Prison, are being kept a secret and that Norway’s human rights ambassadors’ work to spread the `world’s most humane principles’ are avoiding being embarrassed.”

Breivik was referring to a prison in Iraq that became notorious in 2004, when photos were released of detainees being abused by U.S. soldiers.

In a handwritten note sent with the 27-page typewritten letter, Breivik said he had sent copies of it to the AP, the International Press Center in Oslo, select Norwegian media and Amnesty International.

Bjercke said that Breivik was given an electric typewriter earlier this month but that it was not connected to his letter of complaint.

During his pre-trial detention he was allowed a computer that could not be connected to the Internet, but it was taken away from him when he started serving his sentence.

The Oslo District Court found Breivik guilty of terrorism and premeditated murder for the July 22, 2011 attacks. He was given a 21-year prison sentence that can be extended if he’s considered a threat.

The self-styled anti-Muslim militant denied criminal guilt, saying he’s a commander of a resistance movement aiming to overthrow European governments and replace them with “patriotic” regimes that will deport Muslim immigrants. Police said they found no evidence of Breivik belonging to any such group.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.