Breivik’s reemergence in the public eye five years after his last court case will be painful for the friends and relatives of the 77 people he brutally killed, particularly as his parole requests are likely to be renewed every one-and-a-half years for at least the next decade.
“Every time this crops up, it will be a great strain for all those that this happened to,” Lisbeth Royneland, whose daughter Synne would have celebrated her 29th birthday on Tuesday, told Norway’s state broadcaster NRK.
“I’m convinced he will use it as a platform to spread hateful nonsense,” Bjorn Ihler, who survived the attack on an island Labour Party youth camp, told the Telegraph.
Berit Johnsen, the head of research at University College for Norwegian Correctional Service, said that it was “very, very unlikely” that Breivik would get parole.
Special treatment
“He has shown what he is capable of doing, and the only way he can be released is for the court to trust he can live a normal life and not be a danger to anyone.”
Assuming his parole request is rejected, he will then be able to appeal the verdict, with the case then continuing for about six months. He will then have one year before he will be able to renew his parole request.
“He will be able to take his case to court about every year and a half,” Dr Johnsen said. “People don’t like it, but I think they will accept it. It is very important that his imprisonment is legal.”
Ms Røyneland, who now leads a support group for victims of the attacks, said that, however difficult she found it, she believed Breivik’s case should not be treated differently under the law.
“I do not think those who made the laws envisioned a mass murderer and a terrorist,” she told NRK. “But if they had made a special arrangement for him, it would also have been wrong.”
