Anders Breivik Sentenced

 

Speaking of truly evil men, the trial of Anders Breivik is over. He was ruled to be sane and sentenced to a maximum of 21 years for his crimes. Here is the report from CNN.

Anders Behring Breivik, the man who killed 77 people in a bomb attack and gun rampage just over a year ago, was judged to be sane by a Norwegian court Friday, as he was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Breivik was charged with voluntary homicide and committing acts of terror in the attacks in Oslo and on Utoya Island on July 22, 2011.

The issue of Breivik’s sanity, on which mental health experts have given conflicting opinions, was central to the court’s ruling.

Breivik, who boasts of being an ultranationalist who killed his victims to fight multiculturalism in Norway, wanted to be ruled sane so that his actions wouldn’t be dismissed as those of a lunatic.

He says he acted out of “necessity” to prevent the “Islamization” of his country.

 

He was sentenced to the maximum possible term of 21 years and was ordered to serve a minimum of 10 years in prison.

The sentence could be extended, potentially indefinitely, in the future if he is considered still to pose a threat to society. Norway does not have the death penalty.

S0mehow, I am not impressed with the justice of the Norwegian criminal justice system if the maximum the murderer of 77 people can receive is 21 years, with the possibility that he could be released in ten. I know they can detain him indefinitely if he is felt to be a threat to society, but even that is troublesome since there is a certain arbitrary quality to deciding whether or not anyone is a threat. It would be better if he were sentenced, under the law, to either life in prison or death. It doesn’t seem as though prison life will be that bad for Breivik.

Over the past year, Breivik has had three cells for his use, one for physical exercise and another for reading and writing, as well as a separate outdoor exercise space, he said. Breivik cannot mix with prisoners from other wings, but does have contact with prison staff.

“As of now, we think there is a need to subject Mr. Behring Breivik to a particularly high security regime,” Bjarkeid said.

The high security regime “puts a heavy strain on an inmate, especially if it lasts for a longer period,” he added, so Breivik’s continued detention under these conditions will be kept under constant review.

Well, we wouldn’t want him to be under any strain, would we?

 

 

 

Related articles

• Breivik found sane, sentenced to 21 years (smh.com.au)
• Court: Breivik sane, going to prison (cbsnews.com)
• Breivik Sentenced in Norway Massacre (abcnews.go.com)
• Anders Breivik Declared Sane and Will Head to Prison (theatlanticwire.com)

 

Norway Killings

I haven’t posted anything on the terrible events that occurred in Norway last Friday because I didn’t want to say anything without knowing what had happened, and I don’t imagine that I have anything useful to contribute. It is a terrible misfortune that  seventy-six people lost their lives because of that lunatic. It is a somewhat lesser misfortune that since he claimed to be acting to stop the the Muslim takeover of Europe, the European Left will certainly use this crime to justify suppression of legitimate concerns by Europeans over immigration and the radicalization of their Muslim minority.

If there is any question of Anders Breivik’s sanity, take a look at this report on his manifesto. Evidently he was an admirer of Vlad the Impaler aka Dracula.