Fjotolf Hansen (born Anders
Behring Breivik (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈɑ̀nːəʂ ˈbèːrɪŋ
ˈbræ̀ɪviːk] 13 February 1979), also known by his pseudonym
Andrew Berwick, is a Norwegian far-right terrorist who
committed the 2011 Norway attacks. On 22 July 2011, he killed eight
people by detonating a van bomb amid Regjeringskvartalet in Oslo,
then killed 69 participants of a Workers' Youth League (AUF) summer
camp in a mass shooting on the island of Utøya. In July 2012, he
was convicted of mass murder, causing a fatal explosion, and
terrorism.
While still a juvenile, he was
arrested, and was consequently rejected from the Norwegian Armed
Forces. At the age of 20 he joined the anti-immigration/right-wing
Progress Party, and chaired the local Vest Oslo branch of the party's
youth organization during 2002. He left the Progress Party in 2006
and went on to join a gun club, while also founding a company which
he used to finance his planned terrorist attacks.
On the day of the attacks, Breivik
electronically distributed a compendium of texts entitled 2083: A
European Declaration of Independence, describing his militant
ideology. In them, he stated his opposition to Islam and blamed
feminism for a European "cultural suicide." The
text called for the deportation of all Muslims from Europe and
Breivik wrote that his main motive for the attacks was to publicize
his manifesto.
Two teams of court-appointed forensic
psychiatrists examined Breivik before his trial. The first team
diagnosed Breivik with paranoid schizophrenia but after this initial
finding was criticized, a second evaluation concluded that he was not
psychotic during the attacks but did have narcissistic personality
disorder and antisocial personality disorder.
His trial began on 16 April 2012, with
closing arguments made on 22 June 2012. On 24 August 2012, Oslo
District Court delivered its verdict, finding Breivik sane and guilty
of murdering 77 people. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison, in a
form of preventive detention that required a minimum of 10 years
incarceration and the possibility of one or more extensions for as
long as he is deemed a danger to society. This is the maximum penalty
in Norway. Breivik announced that he did not recognize the
legitimacy of the court and therefore did not accept its decision—he
decided not to appeal because this would legitimize the authority of
the Oslo District Court. In 2016, Breivik sued the Norwegian
Correctional Service, claiming that his solitary confinement violated
his human rights. A subsequent court ruling found that his rights had
not been violated, despite an earlier ruling, and in June 2017,
Breivik filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights,
which dismissed his case in June 2018.
As of September 2020, his lawyer
(Øystein Storrvik) has made an application for parole, on behalf of
Breivik; Breivik has the right to have the courts make a decision
regarding [his application for] parole; Breivik has to serve at least
ten years before [possibly] being paroled.
Since his imprisonment, Breivik has
identified himself as a fascist and a Nazi, who practices Odinism and
uses counter-jihadist rhetoric to support ethno-nationalists.
After he had carried out his attacks,
it became known that psychiatrists had recommended him be removed
from his mother and placed into foster care when he was 4 years old,
as she was heavily emotionally and psychologically abusive towards
him. However, the recommendation made by the psychiatrists was not
followed, and Breivik remained in her care.
Names and early life
His family name is Breivik, while
Behring, his mother's maiden name, is his middle name and not part of
the family name. His family name comes from Breivika in Hadsel, and
literally means "broad vik" or "broad bay."
On 9 June 2017, Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang reported Breivik had
changed his legal name to Fjotolf Hansen.
Breivik was born in Oslo on 13 February
1979, the son of Wenche Behring (1946–2013), a nurse, and Jens
David Breivik (born 1935), a civil economist, who worked as a
diplomat for the Norwegian Embassy in London and later in Paris. He
spent the first year of his life in London until his parents divorced
when he was a year old. His father (who later married a diplomat)
fought for custody of him, but failed. When Breivik was four, living
in Fritzners gate in Oslo, two reports were filed expressing concern
about his mental health, concluding that he ought to be removed from
parental care. A psychologist in one of the reports made a note of
the boy's peculiar smile, suggesting it was not anchored in his
emotions but was rather a deliberate response to his environment. In
another report by psychologists from Norway's center for child and
youth psychiatry (SSBU) concerns were raised about how his mother
treated him: "She 'sexualized' the young Breivik, hit him,
and frequently told him that she wished that he were dead." In
the report Wenche Behring is described as "a woman with an
extremely difficult upbringing, borderline personality disorder and
an all-encompassing if only partially visible depression" who
"projects her primitive aggressive and sexual fantasies onto
him [Breivik]". The psychologist who wrote the report was
later forbidden to give evidence in court by Behring, who herself was
excused from testifying on health grounds.
Breivik attended Smestad Grammar
School, Ris Junior High, Hartvig Nissens Upper Secondary School and
Oslo Commerce School (1995–98). A former classmate has recalled
that he was an intelligent student, physically stronger than others
of the same age, who often took care of people who were bullied.
Breivik lived with his mother and his
half sister in the West End of Oslo and regularly visited his father
and stepmother in France, until they divorced when he was 12. His
mother also remarried, to an officer in the Norwegian Army.
Breivik chose to be confirmed into the
Lutheran Church of Norway at the age of 15.
In his adolescence, Breivik's behavior
was described as having become rebellious. In his early teen years he
was a prolific graffiti artist, part of the hip hop community in Oslo
West. He took his graffiti much more seriously than his comrades did
and was caught by the police on several occasions; child welfare
services were notified once and he was fined on two occasions.
According to Breivik's mother, after he was caught spraying graffiti
on walls in 1995, at the age of 16, and fined, his father stopped
contact with him. They have not been in contact since then. The
opposite view is claimed by Breivik's father, that it was his son who
broke off contact with him and that he would have always welcomed
Anders despite his destructive activities. At this age he also broke
off contact with the hip hop community after he fell out with his
best friend.
Since adolescence, Breivik had spent
much time on weight training, and started using anabolic steroids. He
cared a lot about his own looks and about appearing big and strong.
Breivik has criticized his parents for supporting the policies of the
Norwegian Labour Party and his mother for being, in his opinion, a
moderate feminist.
Failure of social services to remove
Breivik from his abusive mother
In 1983 and 1984 some of Norway's top
psychologists wanted to have Breivik forcibly removed from his
mother, Wenche Behring. These psychologists worked at National Center
for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Statens Senter for Barne- og
Ungdomspsykiatri (the SSBU). They had placed a care order for the boy
but this was not carried out by Barnevernet, Norway's state Child
Welfare Service. After the attacks on 22 July 2011 one of the
psychologists who had observed Breivik as a child stated that "If
Anders had been removed from his abusive home he would have developed
altogether differently. His actions are essentially an extreme
expression of the price society has to pay for the inadequacy of the
Child Welfare Services."
During that time the three-generation
hypothesis was applied to explain why some children develop severe
mental issues. This hypothesis states that if the parents had a
difficult childhood and a bad relationship with the grandparents and
because of that failure to develop a healthy bond with their
children, the third generation develops severe issues. Breivik's
mother had had to take care of her disabled mother starting from age
eight. The grandmother had contracted polio and became paralyzed and
wheelchair-bound. Wenche also lost her father as he died when she was
eight years old. The people surrounding the family and social
services failed to provide help to the family so that Wenche was
constantly over-strained with having to watch her disabled mother
while still being a child herself. On top of her handicap, the
grandmother developed psychosis and constantly blamed her daughter
for her illness. She made Wenche completely sacrifice her life for
her so that she wasn't allowed to develop as a normal child at all
and didn't attend school regularly or build a stable group of
friends. She fled her abusive home at age 17 and soon after that
became a teenage mother. Some time later she met Jens Breivik, who
later became Anders' father.
During her pregnancy Breivik’s mother
already developed a disdain for him. She claimed that he was a "nasty
child" and that he was "kicking her on purpose".
She had wanted to abort him but at the time that she returned to
Norway from the UK, she had already passed the three months threshold
for an abortion. Psychologists reports stated that she thought that
Breivik was a "fundamentally nasty and evil child and
determined to destroy her." She stopped breastfeeding her
son pretty early on because he was "sucking the life out of
her."
Breivik's mother moved back to Oslo in
no. 18, Fritznersgate, where Jens Breivik had an apartment. The
neighbors claimed that there were noises of fights and that the
mother left her children completely alone for extended periods of
time, while she was working as a nurse. In 1981 Breivik's mother
applied for economic help and in 1982 she applied for respite care
for her son. She says that she was overwhelmed with the boy and
unable to care for him. She described him to be "clingy and
demanding." Breivik was then placed with a young couple.
This couple later told police that the mother, when bringing
two-year-old Breivik to the house, had asked that he be allowed to
touch the man's penis because he had no one to compare himself to in
terms of appearance. 'All he ever saw were girls' parts. This
suggests that Breivik had been sexually abused by the age of two
already.
In February 1983, on the advice of her
neighbors, Breivik's mother sought help from the National Center for
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (SSBU) in Oslo. There the mother then
stayed during the day with Breivik and was observed by psychiatrists
for about one month. The conclusion of the stay from the
psychiatrists was that Breivik should be placed in the foster care
system and had to be removed from his mother for him to develop
normally. The justification for this was several observations.
Breivik was almost completely void of any emotional engagement. He
didn't show joy. He didn't cry when he was hurt. He made no attempts
to play with other children. He was also extremely clean and became
anxious when his toys weren't in order. Psychologists believed that
he had become this way because of the negative reactions his mother
displayed to any emotion he showed. They thought that she had
punished him and reacted extremely negatively to him displaying
emotions that had led him to become devoid of any visible emotions.
His mother had also claimed that he was unclean and that she
constantly had to care for him and run after him. Psychologists
believed that Breivik had become this clean because of fear of
punishment from his mother. He didn't show the normal level of
uncleanliness of a four-year-old. Breivik seemed extremely careful
and controlled. He had no repertoire on how to express emotions
normally. During long phases of emotional voidness he would rarely
erupt and display extreme uncontrolled emotions.
Reports of the staff said that his
mother had told Breivik while she knew that she was being observed by
health personnel that she "wished that he was dead".
At the same time, she tied him to her and switched from being very
affectionate to being extremely cruel from one minute to the other.
This was an unacceptable situation for a four-year-old to be in,
according to the psychiatrists. The report from 1983 stated "Anders
is a victim of his mother's projections of paranoid-aggressive and
sexual fears toward men in general", and "she projects
onto him her own primitive, aggressive and sexual fantasies; all the
qualities in men that she regards as dangerous and aggressive."
Breivik reacted very negatively to his mother. He alternated between
clinginess, petty aggression and extreme childishness. The final
conclusion of the observation was that "The family is in dire
need of help. Anders should be removed from the family and given a
better standard of care; the mother is provoked by him and remains in
an ambivalent position which prevents him from developing on his own
terms. Anders has become an anxious, passive child that averts making
contact. He displays a manic defense mechanism of restless activity
and a feigned, deflecting smile. Considering the profoundly
pathological relationship between Anders and his mother it is crucial
to make an early effort to ward off a severely skewed development in
the boy." However, Child Welfare Services did not follow
this recommendation. They did not understand how harmful the
treatment of his mother was for Breivik. Instead, he was placed in
respite care only during the weekends. SSBU hoped that eventually he
would be fully placed into foster care.
However when Breivik's father, Jens
Breivik, learned of the situation he filed for custody. Although
Breivik's mother had agreed to have him put in respite care, after
Jens had filed for custody she demanded that Breivik be put back into
full custody with her. Both the mother and father got lawyers
involved. Eventually, the case was dropped because the Welfare
Services thought that they wouldn't be able to provide enough
evidence in court to warrant the placement of Breivik in foster care.
One of the main reasons for this was the testimony of staff from the
Vigelandsparken nursery, which Breivik had been attending since 1981.
They described him as a happy child and claimed that nothing was
wrong or had been wrong with him all along. During all of this the
SSBU maintained their stances and said "urgent action is
crucially needed to prevent a severely skewed development in the
boy". The SSBU wrote Child Welfare Services a letter
claiming that an order should be placed to have Breivik be removed by
force. In 1984 a hearing in front of Barnevernsnemnda (the municipal
child welfare committee) took place on whether Breivik's mother
should lose custody of him. During the hearing, a young social worker
who had never represented a case in court before was up against the
experienced lawyer hired by Breivik's mother. She naturally won the
case. It was ruled that the family should be supervised. However
after only three visits the supervision was discontinued. Breivik was
never again put into respite care or foster care.
SSBU heavily criticized the decision
stating "The family's situation was deeply troubling. The boy
was at risk of developing serious issues, and had the Child Welfare
Service deliberately chosen to do nothing, they would have failed
him. If however, they rejected to act on the SSBU's suggestions, the
SSBU cannot be faulted. They did not have authority to make formal
decisions. Only the Child Welfare Service could do that."
Adulthood
Breivik was exempt from conscription to
military service in the Norwegian Army and had no military training.
The Norwegian Defence Security Department, which conducts the vetting
process, say he was deemed "unfit for service" at the
mandatory conscript assessment.
After the age of 21, Breivik was in the
customer service department of an unnamed company, working with
"people from all countries" and being "kind
to everyone". A former co-worker described him as an
"exceptional colleague", while a close friend of his
said he usually had a big ego and would be easily irritated by those
of Arab or South Asian origin.
Breivik visited Belarus only once, as a
tourist in 2005. Norwegian prosecuting authorities claim that
Breivik went to Belarus to meet a woman he had met on a dating
website. This woman later visited him in Oslo.
According to friends, Breivik had
cosmetic surgery on his chin, nose and forehead while in his early
twenties, and was pleased with the result.
2011 terror attacks
Planning
Breivik claims that in 2002 (at the age
of 23) he started a nine-year-plan to finance the 2011 attacks,
founding his own computer programming business while working at the
customer service company. He claims that his company grew to six
employees and "several offshore bank accounts", and
that he made his first million kroner at the age of 24. He writes in
his manifesto that he lost 2 million kroner on stock speculation, but
still had about 2 million kroner to finance the attack. The company
was later declared bankrupt and Breivik was reported for several
breaches of the law. He then moved back to his mother's home to,
according to him, save money. The first set of psychiatrists who
evaluated him said in their report his mental health deteriorated at
this stage and he went into a state of withdrawal and isolation.
His declared assets in 2007 were about kr 630,000. (US$76,244),
according to Norwegian tax authority figures. He claims that by
2008 he had about kr 2,000,000 (US$243,332) and nine credit cards
giving him access to €26,000 in credit.
In May 2009, he founded a farming
company under the name "Breivik Geofarm", described
as a farming sole proprietorship set up to cultivate vegetables,
melons, roots, and tubers.
In 2010, he visited Prague in an
attempt to buy illegal weapons. He was unable to obtain a weapon
there and decided to get weapons through legal channels in Norway
instead. He bought one semi-automatic 9 mm Glock 34 pistol legally
by demonstrating his membership in a pistol club in the police
application for a gun license, and the semi-automatic Ruger Mini-14
rifle by possessing a hunting license. Breivik's manifesto included
writings detailing how he played video games such as World of
Warcraft to relax, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for
"training-simulation". He told a court in April
2012 that he trained for shooting using a holographic device while
playing Call of Duty. He claimed it helped him gain target
acquisition.
Breivik had no declared income in 2009
and his assets amounted to 390,000 kroner ($72,063), according to
Norwegian tax authority figures. He states that in January 2010 his
funds were "depleting gradually". On 23 June 2011, a
month before the attacks, he paid the outstanding amount on his nine
credit cards so he could have access to funds during his
preparations.
In late June or early July 2011, he
moved to a rural area south of Åsta in Åmot, Hedmark county, about
140 km (87 mi) north-east of Oslo, the site of his farm. As he admits
in his manifesto he used the company as a cover to legally obtain
large amounts of artificial fertilizer and other chemicals for the
manufacturing of explosives. A farming supplier sold Breivik's
company six tonnes of fertilizer in May. The newspaper Verdens Gang
reported that after Breivik bought a small quantity of an explosive
primer from an online shop in Poland, his name was among 60 passed to
the Police Security Service (PST) by the Norwegian Customs Service as
having used the store to buy products. Speaking to the newspaper, Jon
Fitje of PST said the information they found gave no indication of
anything suspicious. He sets the cost of the preparations for the
attacks at €317,000 – "130,000 out of pocket and 187,500
euros in lost revenue over three years."
Breivik's farmer neighbor described him
as looking like a "city dweller, who wore expensive shirts
and who knew nothing about rural ways". Breivik had also
covered up the windows of his house. The owner of a local bar, who
once worked as a profiler of passengers' body language at Oslo
Airport, said there was nothing unusual about Breivik, who was an
occasional customer at the bar.
The attacks
On 22 July 2011, Breivik detonated a
fertilizer bomb outside the tower block housing the office of Prime
Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo, resulting in eight deaths.
Within a few hours of the explosion he
traveled to Utøya island, the site of a camp for Worker's Youth
League, imposing as a police officer in order to take the ferry to
the island, and then fired intermittently for more than one hour,
killing 69 with one murder victim as young as 14 years old.
Arrest
When the police tactical unit Delta
(based in Oslo) arrived on the island and confronted him, he
surrendered without resistance. After his arrest, he was held by
armed police on the island, and interrogated throughout the night,
before being moved to a holding cell in Oslo.
Breivik admitted to the crimes and said
the purpose of the attack was to save Norway and Western Europe from
a Muslim takeover, and that the Labour Party had to "pay the
price" for "letting down Norway and the Norwegian
people."
After his arrest, Breivik referred to
himself as "the greatest monster since Quisling."
Booking and preparations for trial
On the way to his first jail meeting,
Breivik's police escort was met with an angry crowd, some of whom
shouted "burn in hell" or "traitor",
while others used stronger words.
On 25 July 2011, Breivik was charged
with violating paragraph 147a of the Norwegian criminal code,
"destabilizing or destroying basic functions of society"
and "creating serious fear in the population", both
of which are acts of terrorism under Norwegian law. He was ordered
held for eight weeks, the first four in solitary confinement, pending
further court proceedings. The custody was extended in subsequent
hearings. The indictment was ready in early March 2012. The Director
of Public Prosecutions had initially decided to censor the document
to the public, leaving out the names of the victims as well as
details about their deaths. Due to the public's reaction, this
decision was reversed prior to its release. On 30 March, the
Borgarting Court of Appeal announced that it had scheduled the
expected appeal case for 15 January 2013. It would be heard in the
same specially-constructed courtroom where the initial criminal case
was tried.
Breivik was kept at Ila Prison after
arrest. There, he had at his disposal three prison cells: one where
he could rest, sleep, and watch DVD movies or television, a second
that was set up for him to use a PC without Internet connection, and
a third with gym equipment. Only selected prison staff with special
qualifications were allowed to work around him, and the prison
management aimed to not let his presence as a high-security prisoner
affect any of the other inmates. Subsequent to the January 2012
lifting of letters and visitors censorship for Breivik, he received
several inquiries from private individuals, and he devoted his time
to writing back to like-minded people. According to one of his
attorneys, Breivik was curious to learn whether his manifesto has
begun to take root in society. Breivik's attorneys, in consultation
with Breivik, considered whether to have some of his interlocutors
called as witnesses during the trial. Several media, both Norwegian
and international, have requested interviews with Breivik. The first
such was canceled by the prison administration following a background
check of the journalist in question. A second interview was agreed to
by Breivik, and the prison requested a background check to be done by
the police in the country where the journalist is from. No
information has been given about the media organizations in question.
Psychiatric evaluation
Breivik underwent his first examination
by court-appointed forensic psychiatrists in 2011. The psychiatrists
diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, concluding that he had
developed the disorder over time and was psychotic both when he
carried out the attacks and during the observation. He was also
diagnosed with abuse of non-dependence-producing substances
antecedent of 22 July. The psychiatrists consequently found Breivik
to be criminally insane.
According to the report, Breivik
displayed inappropriate and blunted affect and a severe lack of
empathy. He spoke incoherently in neologisms and had acted
compulsively based on a universe of bizarre, grandiose and delusional
thoughts. Breivik alluded to himself as the future regent of Norway,
master of life and death, while calling himself "inordinately
loving" and "Europe's most perfect knight since
WWII". He was convinced that he was a warrior in a "low
intensity civil war" and had been chosen to save his people.
Breivik described plans to carry out further "executions of
categories A, B and C traitors" by the thousands, the
psychiatrists included, and to organize Norwegians in reservations
for the purpose of selective breeding. Breivik believed himself to be
the "knight Justiciar grand master" of a Templar
organization. He was deemed to be suicidal and homicidal by the
psychiatrists. According to his defense attorney, Breivik initially
expressed surprise and felt insulted by the conclusions in the
report. He later said "this provides new opportunities".
The outcome of Breivik's first
competency evaluation was fiercely debated in Norway by mental health
experts, over the court-appointed psychiatrists' opinion and the
country's definition of criminal insanity. An extended panel of
experts from the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine reviewed the
submitted report and approved it "with no significant
remarks". News in the meantime emerged that the
psychiatric medical staff in charge of treating prisoners at Ila
Detention and Security Prison did not make any observations that
suggested he suffered from either psychosis, depression or was
suicidal. According to senior psychiatrist Randi Rosenqvist, who was
commissioned by the prison to examine Breivik, he rather appeared to
have personality disorders. Counsels representing families and
victims filed requests that the court order a second opinion, while
the prosecuting authority and Breivik's lawyer initially did not want
new experts to be appointed. On 13 January 2012, after much public
pressure, the Oslo District Court ordered a second expert panel to
evaluate Breivik's mental state. He initially refused to cooperate
with new psychiatrists. He later changed his mind and in late
February a new period of psychiatric observation, this time using
different methods than the first period, was begun.
If the original diagnosis had been
upheld by the court, it would have meant that Breivik could not be
sentenced to a prison term. The prosecution could instead have
requested that he be detained in a psychiatric hospital. Medical
advice would then have determined whether or not the courts decided
to release him at some later point. If considered a perpetual danger
to society, Breivik could have been kept in confinement for life.
Shortly after the second period of pre-trial psychiatric observation
was begun, the prosecution said it expected Breivik would be declared
legally insane. On 10 April 2012, the second psychiatric evaluation
was published with the conclusion that Breivik was not psychotic
during the attacks and he was not psychotic during their evaluation.
Instead, they diagnosed antisocial personality disorder and
narcissistic personality disorder. Breivik expressed hope at being
declared sane in a letter sent to several Norwegian newspapers
shortly before his trial, he wrote about the prospect of being sent
to a psychiatric ward: "I must admit this is the worst thing
that could have happened to me as it is the ultimate humiliation. To
send a political activist to a mental hospital is more sadistic and
evil than to kill him! It is a fate worse than death."
On 8 June 2012, Professor of Psychiatry
Ulrik Fredrik Malt testified in court as an expert witness, saying he
found it unlikely that Breivik had schizophrenia. According to Malt,
Breivik primarily suffered from Asperger syndrome, Tourette syndrome,
narcissistic personality disorder and possibly paranoid psychosis.
Malt cited a number of factors in support of his diagnoses, including
deviant behavior as a child, extreme specialization in Breivik's
study of weapons and bomb technology, strange facial expression, a
remarkable way of talking, and an obsession with numbers. Eirik
Johannesen disagreed, concluding that Breivik was lying and was not
delusional or psychotic. Johannesen had observed and spoken to
Breivik for more than 20 hours.
Pre-trial hearing
In the pre-trial hearing, February
2012, Breivik read a prepared statement demanding to be released and
treated as a hero for his "pre-emptive attack against
traitors" accused of planning cultural genocide. He said, "They
are committing, or planning to commit, cultural destruction,
including deconstruction of the Norwegian ethnic group and
deconstruction of Norwegian culture. This is the same as ethnic
cleansing."
Criminal trial and conviction
The criminal trial of Breivik began on
16 April 2012 in Oslo Courthouse under the jurisdiction of Oslo
District Court. The appointed prosecutors were Inga Bejer Engh and
Svein Holden with Geir Lippestad serving as Breivik's lead counsel
for the defense. Closing arguments were held on 22 June.
On 24 August 2012, Breivik was adjudged
sane and sentenced to containment—a special form of a prison
sentence that can be extended indefinitely; with an approximate
period of 21 years and a minimum time of 10 years, the maximum
penalty in Norway. Breivik did not appeal and on 8 September media
announced that the verdict was final.
The court said "many people
share Breivik's conspiracy theory, including the Eurabia theory. The
court finds that very few people, however, share Breivik's idea that
the alleged 'Islamization' should be fought with terror."
Prison life
Since August 2011, Breivik has been
imprisoned in an SHS section (a prison section with "particularly
high security"—særlig høy sikkerhet). Between the
inception of SHS, in 2002, and 2016 Norway had only imprisoned ten or
eleven prisoners under these conditions, of which Breivik's term has
been the longest.
He is imprisoned at Skien Prison,
formally known as Telemark fengsel, Skien avdeling, in Skien, county
Vestfold og Telemark. On 23 July 2012 he transferred from Ila
Detention and Security Prison in Bærum to Skien; on 28 September
2012 he transferred back to "Ila"; since September
2013 he has been back in Skien.
Since 2015 or March 2014 Breivik has
received visits from a prison visitor — a military chaplain (ranked
major) — every two weeks; this visitor has been paid 164,000
Norwegian kroner, by the government as of 1 January 2016, in regard
to [visiting] Breivik. His mother visited him five times before her
death in 2013 and researcher Mattias Gardell interviewed Breivik in
2014, but no other visitors requested by Breivik have been granted
access.
He is isolated from the other inmates,
and only has contact with health care workers and guards. The type
of isolation that Breivik has experienced in prison is what the
European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) calls relative social
isolation, according to a verdict of 2016 in Oslo District Court. In
Europe it is not uncommon to grant compensatory measures to prisoners
that are being held in isolation for several years. As of 2016, he
has an electric typewriter and an Xbox (without internet connection)
in his cell. Previously, when the original verdict was upheld in
September 2012, his permission for access to a computer (without
internet) in his prison cell ended.
He has been enrolled since 2015 in the
bachelor's degree program in political science at the University of
Oslo; he passed two courses that year; he does not have internet
access. In 2015 he claimed in a letter that harsh prison conditions
had forced him to drop out of the course. According to a March 2016
statement by his lawyer, Øystein Storrvik [no], Breivik had become a
Nazi in prison.
Political activity and attempts at
correspondence
In 2012, Breivik planned to set up an
organization he called the Conservative Revolutionary Movement which
he envisioned consisting of around 50 right-wing activists in Europe,
as well as an organization for imprisoned right-wing activists;
Breivik has written to, among others, Peter Mangs and Beate Zschäpe.
In 2012 he spent 8–10 hours per day writing. He has said that he
wants to write three books: the first being his own account of the
events on the day of the attacks, the second discussing the ideology
underlying his actions, and a third on his visions for the future.
Since 2013 Breivik has been held at
Skien Prison. As with all convicts his letters are vetted before
sending to prevent further crimes or hate attacks. After he came to
Skien Prison, 5 out of 300 letters that he had sent had not been
confiscated, he testified in court in 2016. He added, "Of the
200 forms regarding prison visits that I have mailed, all have been
confiscated." By 2016 around 4,000 postal items had been
sent to or from Breivik, and about 15 percent of these (600 items)
had been confiscated. On 11 March 2016 political scientist Ingeborg
Kjos was copied in on a letter from Breivik to the Ministry of
Justice that had taken over a year and a half to reach her; the
letter did not advocate violence.
Politicians from several Norwegian
parties have protested Breivik's activities in prison, which they see
as him continuing to expose his ideology and possibly encouraging
further criminal acts.
Complaints about prison conditions
In November 2012, Breivik wrote a
27-page letter of complaint to the prison authorities about the
security restrictions he was being held under, claiming that the
prison director personally wanted to punish him. Among his complaints
were that his cell is not adequately heated and he has to wear three
layers of clothing to stay warm, guards interfere with his
strictly-planned daily schedule, his cell is poorly decorated and has
no view, his reading lamp is inadequate, guards supervise him while
he is brushing his teeth and shaving and put indirect mental pressure
on him to finish quickly by tapping their feet while waiting, he is
"not having candy" and is served cold coffee, and he
is strip-searched daily, sometimes by female guards. Authorities only
lifted one minor restriction against Breivik; his rubber safety pen,
which he described as an "almost indescribable manifestation
of sadism," was replaced with an ordinary pen.
In letters to foreign media outlets he
told about his demands (in 2013) to prison authorities "including
easier communication with the outside world and a PlayStation 3 to
replace the current PlayStation 2, because it offers more suitable
games"; media reported in 2014 about demands that he would
starve himself to death if refused "access to a sofa and a
bigger gym"; furthermore he said that "Other inmates have
access to adult games while I only have the right to play less
interesting kids' games. One example is "Rayman Revolution",
a game aimed at three year-olds," Breivik complained to
prison officials."
In September 2015, Breivik again
threatened a hunger strike, because of deteriorating prison
conditions, but delayed in order to sue the Norwegian Government over
prison conditions.
Civil trial against Norway's
government
During 15—18 March 2016, Breivik was
the plaintiff in a civil trial against the government. The verdict
was appealed; the appellate court rendered its verdict, and the
supreme court decided not to hear the case.
Breivik sued the government over his
solitary confinement, and his general conditions of imprisonment,
including a claim of an excessive use of handcuffs. Breivik claimed
that his solitary confinement violated his human rights and asserted
that he had been subjected to "degrading treatment, including
hundreds of strip searches and frequent searches of his cell,
including at night."
The Parliamentary Ombudsman had
previously reported that the regimen for serving a prison sentence at
the level of particularly high security" constitutes a
heightened risk of inhumane treatment.
On 14 March, members of the court
performed a walk-thru of prison cells used by Breivik at Ila Prison;
later the same week the members of the court inspected the prison
facilities used by Breivik at Skien Prison. No members of the press
were permitted to join the walk-thru, as per decisions by Oslo
District Court.
On 15 March, Oslo District Court
convened inside Skien Prison. Upon arrival, after police removed his
handcuffs, Breivik shook hands with his lawyers, and thereafter faced
the gallery and performed a Nazi-style salute; one judge said that
Breivik's salute seems disruptive, "therefore I wish that you
don't do it again". A lawyer from the Office of the
Attorney General said that of Breivik's incoming and outgoing mail,
through the postal system, around 15 percent (or 600 pieces of mail
out of around 4,000) had been confiscated. Øystein Storrvik, the
head of Breivik's legal team, told the court about Breivik's letter
of complaint to the government in 2012 which detailed being awakened
by flashlight as often as every half-hour.
Parts of the trial proceedings were to
be closed to the general public; Oslo District Court ruled twice on
the matter, according to news media.
Breivik's testimony
On 16 March, Breivik started his
testimony, "to give his view on the strict prison regimen
[that he is exposed to] and any damage done to his health while in
prison as a cause of isolation". He reported having been
handcuffed 3,500 times.
The main points of his testimony were:
He had been subjected to a "grip
manoeuvre" 2,300 times—where he put his hands through the
slot of the door to his prison cell, and his hands had been held in
place by a prison officer while the door has been swung open. Breivik
described these two forms of "extra punishment", saying:
"it is quite demeaning to be exposed to this every day, so I
countered by not leaving my prison cell. I did not want to exercise
in the fresh air, [I did not want to] train, or use my study
[prison-] cell."
On paper he had three prison cells, but
because of the government's actions he hardly used the training cell
and the study cell.
Prison officers at Ila Prison were not
to speak to him during his [first] stay there, and this was the case
for parts of his stay at Skien [prison]; only the chief of the
section was supposed to speak to Breivik. Furthermore, Breivik had
not said "no" to the prison offering him activities
such as playing floorball or chess, but asked to be offered other
activities. He said that starting in March 2014 he finally received
the one hour of fellowship with prison officers; he said that claims
had been made that he was allowed to prepare food, but that he was
permitted only to press an egg cooker, and was not permitted to put
frozen pizza in the oven—that he had only done once.
He still received a prison visitor
twice a month—an officer of the Norwegian Armed Forces.
Regarding recreation in fresh air,
Breivik said: "Until December 2015 all outdoors recreation
was in a concrete box. In December 2015, probably because of the
upcoming trial, I was permitted to walk 20 minutes in the outdoors
recreation area. A couple of times later I was permitted [again].
Thereafter I was permitted to recreate there every other week."
Regarding being awoken at night,
Breivik said: "There are inspections through the slot [of the
door to the prison cell] every 40 minutes. Every time the slot was
opened they demanded a sign of life. They wanted me to shake a leg
every time the slot opened". He felt humiliated that the
prison officers made such a demand and said "They shined a
flashlight into the bed, depending on the prison officer. Called into
the cell Are you alive, are you alive, until I woke up. Then they had
the sign of life that they needed. Countless times I was awoken at
night."
After he came to Skien Prison, only 5
out of 300 letters that Breivik sent, had not been confiscated. He
added, "Of the 200 forms regarding prison visits that I have
mailed, all have been confiscated."
In 2015 he was told that he would be
locked into an isolation cell for 23 hours a day; the decision was
reversed in December 2015, weeks after the visit by the Parliamentary
Ombudsman.
Breivik said that "Dark film on
all the windows has prevented natural light, and it is not possible
to see anything outside during large parts of the winter months of
the year."
Breivik testified about how the
authorities prevent him from buying postage stamps, and how Skien
Prison has confiscated envelopes [where the stamps are] worth several
thousand Norwegian kroner.
Breivik told about having to wait a
long time after having asked for [the prison officers to present his]
toothbrush, or asked [the prison officers] about turning off the TV
switch; "This low-level terrorizing continued for two years
until" his transfer to Skien [prison].
Breivik testified that he had to drink
cold coffee because he was not permitted to have a thermos; Breivik
has also complained about announcements over the PA system at Ila,
including that each message was repeated such as Now it's time for
outdoors recreation, it's time for outdoors recreation; the PA system
was eventually switched off in Breivik's section [at the prison].
Breivik says that he had not been
permitted to publish his correct mailing address.
Breivik said that "It is
important that Oslo District Court says what types of addressees
[pertaining to the postal system] are permissible." He added
that media [outlets] that he has access to are Aftenposten, Dagen, TA
and Varden, and broadcast Teletext on several channels; he would read
other newspapers if he had such access, "Klassekampen is
perhaps even more interesting than Aftenposten."
Breivik testified that after two years
in isolation he has started to love Paradise Hotel, which he says is
evidence that he has become seriously brain damaged.
Breivik said that "Isolation is
the most effective way to radicalize people because one never gets
corrected by others."
Breivik talked about the parties NFP
and NL; he said that those later changed name to ["Nordic
State" or] Nordiske stat.
Cross-examination of witnesses
The first witness, Randi Rosenqvist, a
psychiatrist at Ila Prison, was cross-examined by Storrvik. Storrvik
asked if she had suggested visits without a glass wall; Rosenqvist
replied: "Yes I have discussed this. I have been thinking
that visits without a glass wall could be something [to consider]. I
don't think that with his image, he would be violent to someone he
has [some sort of] a [working-] relationship to." Storrvik
read out loud, recommendations by Rosenqvist, including "Retired
police officers could, for example, come [to socialize with Breivik],
drink coffee, play games".
At the start of the third day of the
trial, Storrvik introduced a report from the "prevention
section" at [the office of] the Parliamentary Ombudsman,
dated 11 November 2015, regarding a series of visits that year by the
ombudsman; the report said that Breivik was being held at a section
where sometimes there was only one prisoner. Storrvik read from the
report that "The limitations on visits at the time of the
inspection [by the Parliamentary Ombudsman] seemed quite strict".
He said that in that section of the prison, it should expand the
planned [fellowship or] community between prisoners and employees and
consider other measures to minimize the risk of isolation damage. At
that section the prison should evaluate alternative possibilities for
recreation in fresh air, in addition to the concrete exercise yard.
The report recommended that the prison should discontinue the visual
surveillance of health-related conversations that occur with a glass
wall between prisoner and health personnel. (Despite The
Parliamentary Ombudsman being called as a witness, no one from the
office was forced to testify in court, and no one from that office
testified.)
The second witness was Knut Bjarkeid,
Chief Warden at Ila Prison. Storrvik confronted Bjarkeid with a
document regarding [prison] Section G being turned [in part] into a
"particularly high security department". He read: "There
are obvious limits to how long he can be in Section G"; the
document was written by Bjarkeid. Storrvik said that "The words
are here, obviously there are limits to how long he shall be
isolated. This was in 2012. He is still in total isolation".
After Bjarkeid left the witness stand, Emberland read out loud from a
letter that Breivik had written, dated 29 September 2013; in the
letter Breivik reported several persons to the police; the Asker and
Bærum Police District investigated and later dropped the
investigation; Breivik's letter detailed the number of strip
searches, "grip manoeuvres", and handcuffings he had
undergone.
The third witness was Bjørn
Draugedalen, a general practitioner working one day per week at Skien
Prison. His first consultation with Breivik was held in a recreation
room in avdeling for særlig høy sikkerhet, a high-security unit.
Draugedalen shook hands with Breivik, with five prison officers
present; all the later consultations (until the trial) were held with
a glass wall separating them. Storrvik asked "This change, when
another prisoner arrived [and started to live in the same prison
section], which resulted in Breivik's movement being restricted—did
you consider to go up there to view [his living conditions or] how
things were"?; Draugedalen answered "We have to deal
with changes done by the Corrections Services". The judge
interjected, and she said that the Correction Services likely would
listen to health care workers; Draugedalen replied that "We
did not see any extra value then, regarding visiting him in the
[prison] section". At 12:36 Draugedalen said that he has
not been notified that Breivik has discontinued his
[college/university] studies.
The fourth witness was Haukeland, an MD
for prisoners at Ila Prison. At 13:46 Storrvik read from [Breivik's
medical] record dated 5 February 2013 that Breivik intends to
recreate less in fresh air because of the strip searches that follow;
Storrvik asked Haukeland: "The fact that he goes outside less,
to avoid being strip searched, was that discussed as a problem?;
Haukeland answered "No, that was not discussed [among the
health care workers or] in the health section". At 13:51
the judge referred to nightly inspections every half hour, and
Haukeland answers that he cannot remember; the judge asked "Were
you the ones who recommended that"?; Haukeland replied "No
(...)".
The next witness was Margit Kise, a
section leader at Skien Prison. The sixth witness was Tore
Stenshagen, also a section leader at Skien, who served during the
third quarter of 2015. Stenshagen testified that sometimes he sits
down [in Breivik's cell] and talks with Breivik, and sometimes they
are accompanied by only one prison officer.
The last witness was Jørgen Spangen
Iversen, an advisor at the Correctional Agency. Iversen was asked
why Breivik was transferred to Skien rather than to Ringerike Prison;
Iversen answered that he became a case-worker in 2014, and he was not
involved in the transfer.
Closing arguments
Summing up the case for Breivik,
Storrvik said: "For some reason, in Norway it has been
established that in a female prison, a male prison officer cannot
strip search a prisoner, but in a male prison it is ok that females
are present. This is offensive—I do not see any alternatives".
He then talked about the case of strip searches of prisoner
Piechowicz in Poland. In that case the court was not convinced by
the Polish government's arguments that the systematic, humiliating,
daily searches were necessary to secure the prison. He continued: "He
was also awoken at night, but he had 147 visits that compensated",
and Piechowicz's isolation lasted for a shorter period; Storrvik
said: "Note that one calls it isolation, even though he had
one cellmate". Storrvik said that "the verdict [of]
Piechowicz vs. Poland point to a breach of EMK in our case".
Storrvik said: "In my opinion
there is not a complete concurrence between risk analyses and
measures in our case. Risk analyses have at an early stage come with
suggestions for measures [and these have not been followed up] (...)
For example, removing the glass wall during visits and the
possibility of introducing fellow prisoner, has been discussed at
such an early stage that there should be a good reason for why
Rosenqvist's advice has not been followed". Storrvik said
that "The main problem for the government in this case is
that the discrepancies between well-founded—in the context of
security—suggestions from one of those who knows this case the best
has not been followed".
Storrvik compared Breivik's position as
a Catch-22 situation: if Breivik says that he has psychiatric
problems, then he has picked them out of a book; if he says that he
doesn't have psychiatric problems, then he doesn't have psychiatric
problems.
Storrvik said that there had been no
inspections by agencies tasked with oversight, as far as he knew,
until the Parliamentary Ombudsman came. Breivik's lawyer referred to
anal inspections [—visual or manual body cavity searches]; he
disagreed with Emberland's view that there was a difference regarding
anal inspection as referred to in ECHR verdicts in other cases, and
the squats that Breivik must perform while naked; Storrvik's opinion
is that Ila lacks concrete reasons for all the inspections.
Mestad said that "The
government's primary task is to protect its citizens. To let a
convicted terrorist establish a network, is dangerous".
Storrvik said Breivik's [previous]
verdict "indicates a mental vulnerability. If that is not
enough, Breivik appears—by my standards—confused in court".
Storrvik added that [in his usage]
"mental vulnerability is a very, very weak expression".
Emberland said that "Storrvik
is quoting from the dissenting opinions from verdicts of the ECHR"—at
least as much as he is quoting the majority opinions of the verdicts.
On 18 March 2016 after the court was
adjourned, the room where the trial had been held was turned back
into the prison gymnasium.
Reactions (out of court) to
Breivik's testimony
Breivik's testimony about his ideology
was described as incoherent.
In Dagbladet, Aina Sundt Gullhaugen
(research advisor and psychologist) said about prison superintendent
Bjarkeid's opinion that Breivik is not one of the prisoners at Ila
suffering [from isolation]: "And surely it is an ugly sight
when humans in the basement at Ila smear feces on the walls and no
longer are oriented about themselves, time or place. But those who
think that Breivik is not suffering have made themselves unavailable
for the documented pain that Anders partook in [during childhood] ...
The problem is that Breivik ... expresses his affliction in a manner
that does not get captured particularly well by diagnostics manuals.
The type of fundamental relational and emotional deficiencies that
Breivik was allowed to develop, usually results in that person ending
up speaking a language that others don't recognize".
In Aftenposten, Ulrik Fredrik Malt
[expert witness at the 2012 trial] said that "the mass
murderer is mentally quite ill, and that's being under-communicated".
Verdict in lower court
On 20 April 2016 District Court Judge
Helen Andenæs Sekulic gave her verdict. The verdict said that the
conditions of his imprisonment breached Article 3 of the European
Convention on Human Rights, but that Article 8 of the Convention had
not been violated—confiscation of letters had been justified. The
government was also ordered to pay Norwegian kroner 330,937.5
($40,373) for the plaintiff's legal expenses incurred by the court
case. (Breivik could not receive the money, but his lawyer could upon
the verdict being upheld.) Breivik was not in any courtroom when he
received the verdict; media said that his copy would be faxed [to the
prison].
Reactions to verdict
On 21 April 2016 news media said that
Ole Kristoffer Borhaug, chief warden at Skien Prison, said that the
prison regimen for Breivik would not be lightened, in part because
the verdict has not been officially upheld, and there are regulations
preventing high security prisoners from interacting with prisoners of
other categories.
Other reactions to the verdict include
those of former convicts: Kjell Alrich Schumann said that the verdict
is most importantly about the principles regarding the application of
isolation in Norwegian prisons; he added that "The decisions are
evaluated by an entity at Correctional Service every six months, and
they can use any kinds of arguments. There is no oversight";
Sven-Eirik Utsi said that "isolation [is something that the
prison system of] Norway has been criticized about for several
decades [by the ECtHR]".
The government's chief lawyer in the
trial, Marius Emberland, had voiced his opinion about the verdict
before the appeal; his opinion was criticized by the leader of the
Norwegian Judges' Association, Ingjerd Thune: "I clearly
understand that many react. I have never heard a lawyer speak in that
manner—ever. That was surprising"; lawyer Frode Sulland
said that one gets the impression that Office of the Attorney General
"does not respect the justice
system, and they still think that they are right, even when the court
thinks they are wrong"; Emberland eventually recognized
that some of his verbal comments can be interpreted as arrogant,
adding that "They really weren't meant that way".
Legal scholar Mads Andenæs, said that
"The appeal has no bearing on the responsibility of the
government to evaluate and make the changes that the verdict of Oslo
District Court imposes the government to do. This results directly
from Norwegian Law and practices of EctHR".
Loss on appeal
On 5 August, media said that Storrvik
claims that the judge [scheduled to rule in the trial] is partial;
the judge was recused.
The appeal was heard in Borgarting
Court of Appeal (convening within the prison), starting 10 January
2017; Breivik came to court without handcuffs.
Storrvik made comparisons with verdicts
at European Court of Human Rights, including the case of the leader
of PKK (Abdullah Öcalan); that court found that Öcalan's human
rights had been violated from the 6th year of his sentence - until
the 10th year [... when his isolation ended, and fellowship with
other prisoners was permitted].
The verdict, handed down on 1 March
2017, stated that solitary confinement did not violate Breivik's
rights, and all recommendations were voided.
On 8 June 2017, Norway's Supreme Court
decided not to hear the case.
Financing of legal aid; family
situation
As of 2016, Breivik is still receiving
pro bono legal aid from the law firm of Øystein Storrvik;
previously the firm of Geir Lippestad did pro bono representation of
Breivik (after the 2012 trial). Legal aid during criminal trials has
been paid by the government, as is the norm in the country.
On 23 March 2013, Breivik's mother died
from complications from cancer. On the same day media said that
mother and son "took farewell during a meeting at Ila last
week. Breivik was permitted to move himself out from behind the glass
wall of the visit room—to give his mother a farewell hug".
Breivik had asked for permission from the prison officials to
attend his mother's funeral service; the request was rejected.
Writings and video
Forums and Youtube
Janne Kristiansen, then Chief of the
Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), said Breivik "deliberately
desisted from violent exhortations on the net [and] has more or less
been a moderate, and has neither been part of any extremist network."
He is reported to have written many posts on the Islam-critical
website document.no. He also attended a meeting of "Documents
venner" (Friends of Document), affiliated with the website,
in late 2009. Due to the media attention on his Internet activity
following the 2011 attacks, document.no compiled a complete list of
comments made by Breivik on its website between September 2009 and
June 2010.
A Dagens Næringsliv article said that
Breivik sought to start a Norwegian version of the Tea Party movement
in cooperation with the owners of document.no, but that they, after
expressing initial interest, turned down his proposal because he did
not have the contacts he promised.
Six hours before the attacks, Breivik
posted a picture of himself as a Knight Templar officer in a uniform
festooned with a gold aiguillette and multiple medals he had not been
awarded. In the video he put an animation depicting Islam as a
trojan horse in Europe. The video, which promotes fighting against
Islam, shows Breivik wearing a wetsuit and holding an automatic
weapon.
Manifesto: 2083: A European
Declaration of Independence
Content
Breivik prepared a document titled
2083: A European Declaration of Independence. It has 1,518 pages,
credited to "Andrew Berwick" (an Anglicization of
Breivik's name). Breivik admitted in court that it was mostly other
people's writings he had copied and pasted from different websites.
The file was e-mailed to 1,003 addresses about 90 minutes before the
bomb blast in Oslo. The document describes two years of preparation
of unspecified attacks, supposedly planned for late 2011, involving a
rented Volkswagen Crafter van (small enough not to require a truck
driving license) loaded with 1,160 kilograms (2,560 lb) of ammonium
nitrate/fuel oil explosive (ANFO), a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic
rifle, a Glock 34 pistol, personal armour including a shield,
caltrops, and police insignias. It also reports that Breivik spent
thousands of hours gathering email addresses from Facebook for
distribution of the document, and that he rented a farm as a cover
for a fake farming company buying fertilizer (3 tons for producing
explosives and 3 tons of a harmless kind to avoid suspicion) and as a
lab. It describes burying a crate with the armour in the woods in
July 2010, collecting it on 4 July 2011, and abandoning his plan to
replace it with survival gear because he did not have a second
pistol. It also expresses support for far-right groups such as the
English Defence League and paramilitaries such as the Scorpions.
In the introductory chapter of the
manifesto defining "cultural Marxism" in the
Frankfurt School conspiracy theory sense is a copy of Political
Correctness: A Short History of an Ideology by Paul Weyrich's Free
Congress Foundation. Major parts of the compendium are attributed to
the pseudonymous Norwegian blogger Fjordman. The text also copies
sections of the Unabomber manifesto, without giving credit, while
replacing the words "leftists" with "cultural
Marxists" and "black people" with
"muslims". The New York Times described American
influences in the writings, noting that the compendium mentions the
anti-Islamist American Robert Spencer 64 times and cites Spencer's
works at great length. The work of Bat Ye'or is frequently cited.
Conservative blogger Pamela Geller is also mentioned as a source of
inspiration. Breivik blames feminism for allowing the erosion of the
fabric of European society and advocates a restoration of patriarchy
which he claims would save European culture.
India, and in particular Hindu
nationalism, figures repeatedly in the manifesto where he expresses
praise and admiration for Hindu nationalist groups. He claimed to
have attempted to reach out to Indians through email & Facebook.
In his writings Breivik also states that he wants to see European
policies on multiculturalism and immigration more similar to those of
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan which he said are "not far from
cultural conservatism and nationalism at its best". He
expressed his admiration for the "monoculturalism" of
Japan and for Japan and South Korea's refusal to accept refugees.
The Jerusalem Post describes his support for Israel as a "far-right
Zionism". He calls all "nationalists" to
join in the struggle against "cultural
Marxists/multiculturalists".
He also expressed his admiration of the
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, finding him "a fair
and resolute leader worthy of respect", though he was
"unsure at this point whether he has the potential to be our
best friend or our worst enemy." Putin's spokesman Dmitri
Peskov has denounced Breivik's actions as the "delirium of a
madman".
Analysis
Benjamin R. Teitelbaum, former
professor of Nordic Studies (current professor of musicology) at
University of Colorado, argues that several parts of the manifesto
suggest that Breivik was concerned about race, not only about Western
culture or Christianity, labeling him as a white nationalist.
Thomas Hegghammer of the Norwegian
Defence Research Establishment has described the ideologies of
Breivik as "not fitting the established categories of
right-wing ideology, like white supremacism, ultra-nationalism or
Christian fundamentalism", but more akin to
macro-nationalism and a "new doctrine of civilizational war".
Norwegian social scientist Lars Gule characterized Breivik as a
"national conservative, not a Nazi". Pepe Egger of
the think-tank Exclusive Analysis says "the bizarre thing is
that his ideas, as Islamophobic as they are, are almost mainstream in
many European countries".
In one section of the manifesto titled
"Battlefield Wikipedia", Breivik explains the
importance of using Wikipedia as a venue for disseminating views and
information to the general public, although the Norwegian professor
Arnulf Hagen claims that this was a document that he had copied from
another author and that Breivik was unlikely to be a contributor to
Wikipedia. According to the leader of the Norwegian chapter of the
Wikimedia Foundation an account has been identified which they
believe Breivik used. On the second day of his trial Breivik cited
Wikipedia as the main source for his worldview.
Influence
Breivik's manifesto 2083: A European
Declaration of Independence circulated in online fascist forums where
strategies were set and tactics debated. In an essay called
"Right-wing terrorism as folk activism," neoreactionary
blogger Curtis Yarvin wrote about Breivik, "No one who
condones Che, Stalin, Mao, or any other leftist murderer, has any
right to ask anyone else to dissociate himself from a rightist who
didn't even make triple digits" (did not murder more than a
hundred people). Australian terrorist Brenton Harrison Tarrant who
killed 51 people (all Muslims) and injured 50 more during the
Christchurch mosque shootings at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic
Center in Christchurch, New Zealand, mentioned Breivik in his
manifesto The Great Replacement as one of the far-right mass
murderers and killers he supports and said "But only really
took true inspiration from Knight Justiciar Breivik" even
going as far as to claim "brief contact" with him
and his organization Knights' Templar.
Beliefs
Breivik had been active on several
anti-Islamic and nationalist blogs, including document.no, and was a
regular reader of Gates of Vienna, the Brussels Journal and Jihad
Watch. Breivik has frequently praised the writings of blogger
Fjordman. He used Fjordman's thinking to justify his actions, citing
him 111 times in the manifesto.
After studying several militant groups,
including the IRA, ETA and others, Breivik suggests far-right
militants should adopt al-Qaeda's methods, learn from their success,
and avoid their mistakes. Breivik described al-Qaeda as the "most
successful revolutionary force in the world" and praised their
"cult of martyrdom".
In a letter sent by Breivik to
international media in January 2014, Breivik states that he exploited
"counter-jihadist" rhetoric in order to protect
"ethno-nationalists" and start a media hunt against
"anti-nationalist counter-jihadist"-supporters, in a
strategy he calls "double psychology". Breivik
further states that he strives for a "pure Nordic ideal",
advocating the establishment of a similar party in Norway to the
(now-defunct) neo-Nazi Party of the Swedes, and identifying himself
as a part of "Western Europe's fascist movement".
Moreover, he states that his "support" for
Israel is limited for it to function as a place to deport "disloyal
Jews". During the trial in 2012, Breivik listed as his
influences a number of neo-Nazi activists, as well as perpetrators of
attacks against immigrants and leftists, considering them "heroes".
Religious views
Following his apprehension, Breivik was
characterized by analysts as being a right-wing extremist with
anti-Muslim views and a deep-seated hatred of Islam, who considered
himself a knight dedicated to stemming the tide of Muslim immigration
into Europe. At the same time, Breivik said both during his trial
and in his manifesto to have been inspired by jihadist groups such as
al-Qaeda, and stated his willingness to work with groups like
al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab and Iran in order to conduct attacks with
weapons of mass destruction against Western targets.
He was at first described by many in
the media as a Christian fundamentalist, Christian terrorist, and
nationalist. He states that the European Union is a project to
create "Eurabia" and describes the 1999 NATO bombing
of Yugoslavia as being authorized by "criminal western
European and American leaders". In his writings Breivik
states that "the Battle of Vienna in 1683 should be
celebrated as the Independence Day for all Western Europeans as it
was the beginning of the end for the second Islamic wave of Jihads".
The manifesto urges the Hindu nationalists to drive Muslims out of
India. It demands the forced deportation of all Muslims from Europe,
based on the model of the Beneš decrees.
His religious faith is Odinism. While
Breivik was frequently described as a "Christian
fundamentalist", such assertion was disputed in a number of
sources, and Breivik denied it, saying in letters to Norwegian
newspaper Dagen that he "is not, and has never been a
Christian", and that he thinks there are few things in the
world more "pathetic" than "the Jesus-figure
and his message". He said he prays and sacrifices to Odin,
and identifies his religion as Odinism.
Links to organizations
Shooting club
Breivik was an active member of an Oslo
shooting club between 2005 and 2007, and since 2010. According to the
club, which banned him for life after the attacks, Breivik took part
in 13 organized training sessions and one competition since June
2010. The club states that it does not evaluate the members'
suitability regarding possession of weapons.
Freemasons
At the time of the attacks, Breivik was
a member of the Lodge of St. Olaf at the Three Columns in Oslo and
had displayed photographs of himself in partial Masonic regalia on
his Facebook profile. In interviews after the attacks, his lodge
said it had only minimal contact with him, and that when made aware
of Breivik's membership, Grand Master of the Norwegian Order of
Freemasons, Ivar A. Skaar, issued an edict immediately excluding him
from the fraternity based upon the acts he carried out and the values
that appear to have motivated them. According to the Lodge records,
Breivik took part in a total of four meetings between his initiation
in February 2007 and his exclusion from the order (one each to
receive the first, second, and third degrees, and one other meeting)
and held no offices or functions within the Lodge. Skaar said that
although Breivik was a member of the Order, his actions showed that
he was in no way a Mason.
Progress Party
Breivik became a member of the Progress
Party (FrP) in 1999. He paid his membership dues for the last time in
2004, and was removed from the membership lists in 2006.
During his time in the Progress Party,
he held two positions in the Progress Party's youth organization FpU:
he was the chair of the local Vest Oslo branch from January to
October 2002, and a member of the board of the same branch from
October 2002 till November 2004.
After the attack, the Progress Party
immediately distanced itself from Breivik's actions and ideas. At a
2013 press conference Ketil Solvik-Olsen said that Breivik "left
us [the party] because we were too liberal".
English Defence League (EDL)
Breivik claimed he had contact with the
far-right English Defence League (EDL), a movement in the United
Kingdom that has been accused of Islamophobia. He allegedly had
extensive links with senior EDL members and wrote that he attended an
EDL demonstration in Bradford. On 26 July 2011, EDL leader Tommy
Robinson denounced Breivik and his attacks and has denied any
official links with him.
On 31 July 2011, Interpol asked Maltese
police to investigate Paul Ray, a former EDL member who blogs under
the name "Lionheart." Ray conceded that he may have
been an inspiration for Breivik, but deplored his actions.
In an online discussion on the
Norwegian website Document.no on 6 December 2009, Breivik proposed to
establish a Norwegian version of the EDL. Breivik saw this as the
only way to stop left-wing radical groups like Blitz and SOS Rasisme
from "harassing" Norwegian cultural
conservatives.[291] Following the establishment of the European
Defence League, the Norwegian Defence League (NDL) launched in 2010.
Breivik indeed became a member of this organization under the
pseudonym "Sigurd Jorsalfar". Former head of the
NDL, Lena Andreassen, claims that Breivik was ejected from the
organization when she took over as leader in March 2011 because he
was too extreme.
Knights Templar
In his manifesto and during
interrogation, Breivik claimed membership in an "international
Christian military order", which he calls the new Pauperes
commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici (PCCTS, Knights Templar).
According to Breivik, the order was established as an "anti-Jihad
crusader-organization" that "fights"
against "Islamic suppression" in London in April
2002 by nine men: two Englishmen, a Frenchman, a German, a Dutchman,
a Greek, a Russian, a Norwegian (apparently Breivik), and a Serb
(supposedly the initiator, not present, but represented by Breivik).
The compendium gives a "2008 estimate" that there
are between 15 and 80 "Justiciar Knights" in Western
Europe, and an unknown number of civilian members, and Breivik
expects the order to take political and military control of Western
Europe.
Breivik gives his own code name in the
organization as Sigurd and that of his assigned "mentor"
as Richard, after the twelfth-century crusaders and kings Sigurd
Jorsalfar of Norway and Richard the Lionheart of England. He calls
himself a one-man cell of this organization, and claims that the
group has several other cells in Western countries, including two
more in Norway. On 2 August 2011 Breivik offered to provide
information about these cells, but on unrealistic preconditions.
After an intense investigation assisted
internationally by several security agencies, the Norwegian police
have not found any evidence that a PCCTS network existed, or that the
alleged 2002 London meeting ever took place. The police now view
Breivik's claim as a figment of imagination in light of his
schizophrenia diagnosis, and are increasingly confident that he had
no accessories. The perpetrator still insists he belongs to an order
and that his one-man cell was "activated" by another
clandestine cell.
On 14 August 2012, several Norwegian
politicians and media outlets received an email from someone claiming
to be Breivik's "deputy", demanding that Breivik be
released, and making more threats against Norwegian society.
Notable related books
On 17 August 2013, journalist Marit
Christensen informed the Norwegian press that for the last year of
Wenche Behring Breivik's life, she had been her confidant, and that a
book based on Christensen's interviews with her would be published as
a book in late 2013 under the title The Mother. On 14 September 2013
Verdens Gang said that before Wenche Behring Breivik died, she hired
a lawyer to prevent Christensen from publishing the book. The book
was nevertheless published in October 2013, and was widely
criticized; on the basis of Wenche Behring Breivik's opposition to
the book, for inclusion of material not relevant to understanding
what motivated her son, and for character assassinations of still
living people.
Norwegian author Unni Turrettini's
bestselling book The Mystery of the Lone Wolf Killer: Anders Behring
Breivik and the Threat of Terror in Plain Sight examines the mind of
Breivik and the phenomenon of the lone wolf killer and how they
manifest themselves, delving into criminal psychology. Turrettini
discusses in her book how these "lone wolves" can be
identified only by observation by the communities within which they
attempt to form personal connections. The book was winner of the
2016 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Winner for Best Nonfiction
book.
