Norway: Mass killer Breivik complains of isolation, microwaved meals

Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik told a court on Wednesday that he suffered degrading conditions in prison, including microwaved meals that were “worse than waterboarding”, as he argued the Norwegian state had violated his human rights.

Breivik, who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage in 2011, said he found regular strip searches “bothersome and offensive” and felt isolated without visitors.

The hearing had heard on Tuesday he had his own treadmill, PlayStation, spin bicycle and reclinable chair with integrated foot stool, and took part in the prison’s Christmas gingerbread-house baking contest.

Lawyers for the government had said he also received newspapers, magazines, books, jigsaw puzzles, watched DVDs and listened to music on a Discman.

“The worst is isolation... I am locked up 23 hours a day,” Breivik said, answering questions from his lawyer, Oeystein Storrvik, before reading out a long written statement about his conditions.

He did not repeat a Nazi salute he made at the start of the four-day hearing.

But he said he had been a follower of Nazism since his youth. “I have been a dedicated National Socialist since I was 12... I read Mein Kampf when I was 14.... But I chose to keep it hidden.”