Breivik sentenced: Not insane, maximum security prison.

[Faisul]

Posting this in the Counter Point because there is undoubtedly going to be some argument here.

So Anders Behring Breivik, the asshole with 77 lives on his conscience (coincidentally making him one of the worst single-man mass murderers in recorded history), has just been sentenced to a deferred life sentence. The trial was a long process that inevitably involved a long debate on whether he was insane or not, including a report after the initial evaluation stating he was a paranoid schitzophrenic, which was later thrown out in the face of wide criticism in favour of a 'diagnosis' of extreme narcissistic disorder, which suits him fine. Because he's a dick.

He will not appeal the sentence as he views the court as illegitimate. Whatever, dickhead. Enjoy prison!

So, let's just get what he did out of the way first. The initial loss of life occurred in the government quarter of Oslo, where a bomb went off by the Labour party headquarters, where eight people were killed. He was by then already on the way to Utøya, the site of a Young Labour activities camp, where the worst of the killing occurred; 69 people, the vast majority being young people ages 16 and up including some adult organizers. It was a cowardly slaughter that will forever sement the pudgy fuckface as the logical extreme of right-wing anti-establishmentarian xenophobia in the vein of Timothy McVeigh and other hillbilly lowlifes.

So what motivated him to carry out his act of wanton mass-murder? A fear that Europe will become an Islamic fortress in some 50+ years due to 'runaway progressivism' and 'cultural marxism.' Nevermind that Europe is already becoming a bastion of right-wing delusion but hey, Breivik is in many ways an expert dealer and purveyor of deluded, racist bullshit anyway. In his long-winded and pretentious 1000+ pages 'manifesto,' he likened Norway to a burning space ship (what the christ) who needs to vent its impurities before the damage can be repaired. Whatever that means! He also rambled on about some Templar crap but who gives a damn because all of that was solely in his head anyway. Oh yes, he cited his organizational skills stemming from his time as a WoW guild leader, despite organizing little else but his own rambling idiocy, and uh attributed his 'remarkable intelligence' to a practice of self-study, consisting primarily of spending thousands of hours reading Wikipedia.

So suffice to say we're all relieved this moron is going to be put away for a long, long time in a place where we won't need to hear about him or his ridiculous bullshit, and where he can be safely forgotten like the unremarkable little troll he is.

So where is he going? Ila maximum security prison, a Nazi concentration camp turned into a detention facility. Coincidentally this place is about a 15 minutes walk from where I live. You can see a silent walkthrough of its cells and activities areas here, by clicking on 'video' in the lower right corner.

This case has drawn quite a bit of attention to it, most noteably concerning the tardy response by police when the initial reports of the shootings on Utøya came in. Due to poor communication and planning, the police was unable to get to the area in time to limit the extent of the killings. They have of course recieved intense criticism for this, which is not undeserved considering the fact that many fairly simple actions could have been taken after the initial reports which would have delivered police forces to the island far earlier than they did.

Public response to the events have been overwhelmingly positive towards the families of the victims and the survivors of the killings. Almost immediately following the capture of Breivik, a spontaneous 'walk of support' throughout the city culminated in leaving thousands of roses, the symbol of the Labour party, outside of the police cordon by the bomb site. On the first-year anniversary of the tragedy, there was a large concert and speech ceremony which I could not attend, but passed by, in the honour of those who lost their lives and their families, in Oslo.

International response to the killings were sympathetic, of course. Later, however, in the wake of the sentencing, bullshit like this has begun cropping up:

This is an outright fabrication and the pinnacle of lowly yellow journalism and sheer pig-headed ignorance, and an insult to the country's judicial system. The sentence Breivik has received is a 21 year sentence of forvaring, detention, which after the course of 10 years may be reevaluated (through something similar to a parole board). He is most definitely going to serve the 21 years awarded, following which the sentence can be extended indefinitely by 5 year increments. It's a life sentence. Maximum security. The slammer. It's not a fucking picnic. It's what he deserves.

Good riddance, asshole.

[Redeemer]

21 years. Many people would complain on how that's not enough, like the headline there being "less than 100 days for each victim". But in reality, this man is going to suffer for his crimes, and 21 years is a goddamn long time. It's almost my entire life span so far, and when I think about being in prison for that long, it feels like a dark place with no light or air. This is what he deserves.

I was discussing this with R3dFiVe, and we looked at the prison video. It actually looks like a rehabilitation centre. It looks comfortable, in the lounge areas especially. There's a lot of conflict with this level of treatment in prisons. Here in Scotland, there was a lot of anger because prisoners were being given free Xbox and PS3 systems and such, and were better treated than others who had never committed a crime. I don't believe that catering to every need of prisoners is right - they're in there for a reason, especially this cancer of a man that this topic is about. Prison isn't just about keeping the public safe, I feel it's also about punishing those who have murdered, raped and stole. There's nothing wrong with humane treatment, but what I see here is pampering. And that's just pathetic.

Good riddance, asshole.

And good luck to his.

On a lighter note, I'm giggling at the two little pictures at the bottom of this front page. Nani looks like he wishes he had never looked to his right.

["User"]

He won't be out after 21 years. Bail hearings and what not will be consistently denied. He's there for the rest of his life.

[Faisul]

what I see here is pampering. And that's just pathetic.

Thanks for your input! On behalf of my countrymen, I would like to remind you that being locked up in a former nazi concentration camp is no joke. No, we don't lock people in tiny rooms for days on end for them to slowly go insane, we don't dump them in some confined shithole to be raped, we don't process them through a cynical warehouse where all they do throughout their sentence is slave for no pay in order to make some fat fuck's check. We award a measure of dignity to those who would see us stripped of it. It has worked for 60 years.

Of course, everyone wanted to see this cretin hanged from a tree a week after we fully understood what he had done, but thankfully the judicial system stopped us. You know, the part where justice is involved. Where due process is honoured and respected. Where people like this guy is examined, painstakingly, to see where he or she came from, why he or she did what he did, and for what aims. Only then can we work to prevent such actions being repeated in the future.

It's not utopianism. It's justice.

[TCPeppyTc]

Does anyone here think Brevik deserves the death penalty?

[Redeemer]

Thanks for your input! On behalf of my countrymen, I would like to remind you that being locked up in a former nazi concentration camp is no joke.

I understand and respect that, when I was talking about pampering I was referring to the living room area I saw in the video. It's even nicer than the place my parents live in, haha. The bedrooms and jobs they take on in there are perfectly acceptable in my opinion. I would never choose a barbaric option to let a prisoner rot in a damp, bedless cell or anything. I just saw the living room and was like "wow that looks pretty damn nice". I don't think that someone who slaughtered 77 people deserves that kind of comfort.

Being civil and humane is what makes us superior beings over animals and, well, people like Breivik. I think that providing a comfortable environment is important is you're going to be locked away there for 21 years, but I wouldn't spend so much money to make it too comfortable, does that make any sense? I fear I'm jut babbling here.

Interestingly enough, Faisul, I was even considering pursuing a job in a prison as a prisoner counsellor. I believe that they require support like this should they ever feel comfortable enough to be counselled.

And TCPeppy, to answer your question, I don't think he does. Sometimes when I get furious and flustered regarding a crime, I get all "omg he should be executed I'm so angry aaaargh" but when I have time to sit back, calm down, and think about what a good person would do, I always vote against the death penalty.

[Faisul]

I think that providing a comfortable environment is important is you're going to be locked away there for 21 years, but I wouldn't spend so much money to make it too comfortable, does that make any sense? I fear I'm jut babbling here.

Interestingly enough, Faisul, I was even considering pursuing a job in a prison as a prisoner counsellor. I believe that they require support like this should they ever feel comfortable enough to be counselled.

Yeah, providing prisoners (especially those who have committed incredible acts of brutality) with a sense of normalcy and a slice of the outside world's comforts is viewed as a baseline necessity for the rehabilitation of said prisoners. That said, this guy isn't getting out in 21 years - he's the worst criminal Norway has had since the Second World War, and some would say the worst the country's had ever. I don't think letting him out would be a good idea at all, even after 21 years, because he's basically the most vilified and hated man in Northern Europe. That's part of the 21 year detention sentence, as you have to take the safety of the prisoner into account too - if he or she will be killed on the streets after release the whole process will have been pointless. So yeah, he's not getting out.

Whether or not it's too comfortable - again, it's still a maximum security prison, and the guy's not gonna get that many privileges, at least not right off the bat. He probably won't have an outlet to communicate with his old pals in online shitholes like document.no and other right wing extremist militia sites, and be cut off from other prisoners for his own safety. The worst part, from what I've heard, is the boredom, and the lack of freedom - after all, there's lights-off times and they do lock the cell after you've done your daily activities. You could have a prison as ostentatious and lavish as the Versailles and still be fucking miserable if you don't have the basic autonomy non-prisoners enjoy (and kind of take for granted).

Does anyone here think Brevik deserves the death penalty?

Norway doesn't have the death penalty so it's kind of a moot point whether or not we think he deserves it. Even if special dispensation had been given to execute the guy, in hindsight, I do not believe that would be the right course of action. But as I said, when I and a lot of others realized the extent of his crimes we chomped at the bit to have him buried alive or burned at the stake. Then we came to our senses.

[DZComposer]

If he did that in Texas, he'd probably go the express lane to the death chamber (Yes, we have a fucking express lane on our death row.). Hell, they execute you here even if you have evidence come up that proves your innocence.

I have mixed feelings about the death penalty, but I am damn-sure anti-execute-someone-who-may-even-be-remotely-innocent.

Anyway, I don't think his sentence was too harsh, as he will likely not be released, but I really think the media should stop covering him. It makes him famous, and that is not a good thing.

[Faisul]

Anyway, I don't think his sentence was too harsh, as he will likely not be released, but I really think the media should stop covering him. It makes him famous, and that is not a good thing.

Absolutely, yes. While the environment, the way of thinking, and the impotent rage that brought him and his actions out of fantasy and into reality should definitely be discussed, it's ultimately not healthy for either victim or country to obsess overmuch on this one man. And as you say, he's bought himself a golden ticket to instant infamy with his actions, and having his dumb heiling face plastered all over the newspapers is definitely giving him the coverage he wants. So, while I don't think anyone (not least the survivors and the victims' families) can truly forget him, he should definitely be ignored.

He'll probably go the Varg Vikernes way and start to write a bunch of silly and pretentious 'journals' and 'manifestos' (self-glorifying fanfictions and fantasy novels) and this stuff will probably reach market at some point, but then I hope the country has moved on to the point where it can simply laugh at him and his bullshit.