The prosecution’s clear view is that Anders Behring Breivik’s request for parole cannot be granted, prosecutor Hulda Karlsdottir said in court on Thursday.
“The cruelty in the defendant’s actions is unparalleled in Norwegian history. Thus, no specific requirements can be set for risk. We have to be realistic. The court must take into account that there is no perpetrator in Norway who has carried out such serious acts as Breivik,” Karlsdottir said.
Breivik himself shook his head during Karlsdottir’s statements.
“In my opinion, this case is not difficult,” the prosecutor continued.
“Breivik conveyed to the court that he changed and that the court must believe that. In the prosecution’s view, there has been no change in his behavior or social functioning that could lead to the court having a different perception of the risk of recidivism compared to what was assessed in the preventive detention sentence in 2012,” she stated.
Still the same
“He asks for trust. The Breivik who asks for trust today is the same Breivik who smashed the government quarter and called it a fiasco,” Karlsdottir said.
She added that it is also the same Breivik who committed the massacres on Utøya.
“This is a PR stunt,” Karlsdottir stated after arguing that Breivik has not changed much.
The prosecutor believes that Breivik wants to continue spreading his message from prison.
Prison conditions
The consideration for the protection of society must take precedence over the consideration for Anders Behring Breivik and how he feels during his imprisonment, the public prosecutor believes.
Karlsdottir did not devote much time in Telemark District Court to review Breivik’s prison conditions.
On Wednesday, defense counsel Øystein Storrvik said that he thought the Norwegian Correctional Service (Kriminalomsorgen) did not do enough to prepare his client for a life outside the prison walls. He believes Breivik today is on a regime that is too strict.
However, the prosecutor asked the court to disregard this in its assessment of whether Breivik should be released on probation after having served the minimum sentence.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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