On Wednesday, Judge Helen Andenaes Sekulic found that Norwegian prison officials overseeing Mr Breivik's incarceration have violated an article in the European Convention of Human Rights which prohibits 'inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment'. Mr Breivik had argued that his extended periods of solitary confinement violated his human rights and were detrimental to his mental health. The Norwegian government has been instructed by the court to limit the extent of Mr Breivik's isolation in prison and to pay his legal fees of 331,000 kroner, or roughly $40,600.

Communication bans intact

However, Judge Sekulic dismissed a related claim that officials had violated Mr Breivik's right to private and family life by limiting his communications with the outside world. The government has insisted that restriction Mr Breivik's ability to receive visitors, send letters and make phone calls is essential to prevent him from encouraging others to commit acts of violent extremism. Mr Breivik is serving 21 years imprisonment for the murder of 77 people in a 2011 gun and bomb attack in Oslo, which he says was motivated by his opposition to multiculturalism and immigration in Norway.

Source: New York Times