ノルウェー７７人殺害犯が国提訴　過酷な収容環境で「自殺追い込み」

【オスロＡＦＰ＝時事】２０１１年にノルウェーで起きた爆破・銃乱射事件で７７人を殺害した罪で禁錮２１年の判決を受け服役中のアンネシュ・ベーリング・ブレイビク受刑者（４４）が８日、刑務所での隔離生活が人権を侵害しているとして国を相手取り提訴した。９日には、国が過酷な収容環境で「私を自殺に追い込もうとしている」と涙ながらに訴えた。当局は、同受刑者は今も非常に暴力的で隔離は妥当だと反論した。（写真は、ノルウェー・リンゲリケ刑務所の仮設法廷に出廷したアンネシュ・ベーリング・ブレイビク受刑者〈右〉）
　ブレイビク受刑者は、２０１１年７月２２日にオスロの政府庁舎前で爆弾を爆発させ８人を殺害。その後、ウトヤ島で開かれていた労働党青年部のキャンプで１０代の若者ら６９人を射殺した。２０１２年に禁錮２１年を言い渡されたが、脅威と見なされる限り刑期は延びる可能性がある。厳重警戒が敷かれた刑務所で、他の受刑者から隔離された状態で１２年近く服役している。
　同受刑者は、長期の隔離は「非人道的」または「品位を傷つける」待遇を禁じる欧州人権条約第３条に違反すると主張している。
　ブレイビク受刑者は公判２日目、「政府の狙いは、私を自殺に追い込もうとしていることにあるという印象を受ける」「その狙いは成功に近づいている。人との交流がなければ、もう生きてはいけない」と語った。公判は、警備上の理由から同受刑者が収容されているリンゲリケ刑務所の体育館で開かれた。
　ブレイビク受刑者は、ウトヤ島を囲む湖のほとりにある同刑務所でキッチン、家庭用ゲーム機のあるテレビルーム、エクササイズルームなど、複数の部屋への出入りを許されている。また、ペットを飼いたいという同受刑者の要望に応え、矯正当局は３羽のセキセイインコも用意した。
　だが、ブレイビク受刑者の弁護士を務めるオーステン・ストルビク氏は、同受刑者の孤独を埋める措置としては不十分だと主張。人との交流は、刑務官、弁護士、牧師をはじめとする専門職にほぼ限られているとしている。
　これに対し国側の弁護士、アンドレアス・イェトラン氏は、収容環境は厳しいが快適だと反論。ブレイビク受刑者は今なお「抑えの利かない暴力を振るう危険性が極めて高い」として隔離を正当化した。
　国側のもう一人の弁護士、クリストファー・ネルラン氏も、「隔離状態に関連した（精神的）苦痛や自殺願望を示す兆候はまだ見られない」と主張。ブレイビク受刑者は、料理やテレビゲーム、散歩、バスケットボール、勉強など、「幅広い活動」を楽しんでいると述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/01/10-17:41）

A tearful Anders Behring Breivik, the right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in 2011, on Tuesday accused Norway of trying to push (him) to suicide with strict prison conditions, while authorities insisted he remained extremely violent.
I have the impression that the government's aim is to try to push me to suicide, Breivik said on the second day of a court hearing in the lawsuit he has brought against the Norwegian state over his prison conditions.
They are close to succeeding. I don't think I will manage to survive much longer without human relations, the 44-year-old told the court, convened for security reasons in the gymnasium of Ringerike prison where he is serving his sentence.
Held apart from other inmates in high-security facilities for almost 12 years, Breivik claims his extended isolation is a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman and degrading treatment.
The lawyer representing the state, Andreas Hjetland, defended Breivik's conditions -- which are strict but comfortable -- as warranted since he still poses an absolutely extreme risk of totally unbridled violence.
On July 22, 2011, Breivik set off a bomb near government offices in Oslo, killing eight people, before gunning down 69 others, mostly teens, at a Labour Party youth wing summer camp on the island of Utoya.
He was sentenced in 2012 to 21 years in prison, which can be extended as long as he is considered a threat.
At one point during his testimony on Tuesday, Breivik, who takes anti-depressants, broke down in sobs.
I understand that... revenge is important and that a lot of people hate me. But I'm still a human being, he said.
- Suicide attempt -
He claimed he had distanced himself from his crimes -- which he attributed to his vulnerability to radicalisation -- and said he thought of suicide every day.
Breivik has apologised in the past and showed no remorse on other occasions.
His testimony left families of the victims unmoved.
He cries when he feels sorry for himself but when he says he's sorry for what he did, he's cold and cynical. I don't believe him for a second, Lisbeth Kristine Royneland, the head of a support group for families of the victims and who lost her 18-year-old daughter on Utoya, told AFP.
During Tuesday's proceedings it emerged that Breivik tried to kill himself in 2020 by hanging himself with a towel, but made sure to inform prison guards first, the state's lawyers noted.
In 2018, he also launched a disobedience campaign, drawing symbols such as swastikas with his feces, shouting Sieg Heil and undertaking a hunger strike.
Breivik represents the same danger today as on July 21, 2011, the eve of the twin attacks he prepared meticulously for years, Hjetland said.
He cited assessments by psychiatrists and prison wardens which suggest that Breivik remains dangerous and still believes his attacks were justified.
Asked once how he felt about having killed children on Utoya, he responded that in extreme-right circles the belief is that if you're old enough to be politically active, you're old enough to be the target of terrorism.
- Gaming console and pet budgies -
At the Ringerike prison, located on the shores of the lake that surrounds the island of Utoya, Breivik has access to several rooms including a kitchen, a TV room with a game console, and an exercise room.
Prison officials have also complied with his request for a pet by providing him with three budgies.
But Breivik's lawyer Oystein Storrvik insists Norwegian authorities have not put sufficient measures in place to compensate for his relative isolation.
His human interactions are mostly limited to contacts with professionals such as wardens, lawyers and a chaplain.
There is still no indication suggesting any (psychological) suffering linked to his isolation or that he is suicidal, argued another lawyer for the state, Kristoffer Nerland.
Breivik enjoys a wide range of activities, he said, including cooking, video games, walks, basketball and studies.
Citing another article of the Convention on Human Rights that guarantees the right to correspondence, Breivik has also asked for an easing of his mail restrictions.
In 2016, Breivik sued the Norwegian state on the same grounds, with a lower court ruling in his favour before higher courts found in the state's favour.
In 2018, the European Court of Human Rights dismissed his case as inadmissible.