Breivik sues Norway for violation of human rights

Mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011, opened a court case against the Norwegian government on Tuesday for violating his human rights.

Live video broadcast on Norway's major media's websites, including public broadcaster NRK, showed Breivik appearing with a shaved head and a black suit in a makeshift courtroom, converted from a gym at the Skien prison, about 100 km southwest of Olso.

The 37-year-old convict is suing the government for violating his human rights by exposing him to extreme isolation in prison and is expected to argue in the court that his treatment shows Norway has violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

Breivik, who is serving a 21-year sentence, the maximum under Norwegian law, has been living under the highest security without any contact with other inmates and visits have been strictly limited.

His contacts with the outside world has also been severely restricted, with mail being either totally banned or strictly censored.

For security and practical considerations, the Oslo District Court ruled that the trial Breivik has brought against the state take place in the Skien prison.

The trial is scheduled to last four days and eight witnesses, including a psychiatrist and prison doctors and managers, will appear in court.

The Norwegian government has rejected Breivik's complaints, noting that he can move freely among his three cells -- for living, studying and physical training -- with a TV, a computer and a game console. He also has daily access to an exercise yard.

On July 22, 2011, Breivik set off a car bomb that killed eight people outside government headquarters in Oslo and then killed 69 others in a shooting rampage on Utoya Island, where young members of the governing Labor Party had gathered for their annual summer camp.

In 2012, Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in prison at the Oslo District Court.

Norway's penal code does not have the death penalty or life imprisonment, and the maximum prison term for Breivik's charges is 21 years. However, inmates who are considered a threat to society can be held indefinitely. Endi