A prosecutor in Norway has said that a far-right extremist who killed 77 people in 2011 still is "a very dangerous man" and therefore a poor candidate for release after 10 years in prison, as Norwegian law permits.
On the final day of a three-day parole hearing on Thursday, prosecutor Hulda Karlsdottir said in her closing argument that Anders Behring Breivik "has not shown any genuine remorse in court" and his behaviour there is part of a "PR stunt".
"In the clear view of the prosecution, Breivik's request for parole should not be granted," Karlsdottir said.
Breivik professed white supremacist views and flashed Nazi salutes on the hearing's opening day while claiming to have renounced violence.
A psychiatrist who has observed him since 2012 testified on Wednesday that Breivik cannot be trusted.
A prison official told the judges hearing the parole request "there is an imminent danger" that, if released, Breivik would again commit serious crimes.
Breivik is serving Norway's maximum 21-year sentence for setting off a bomb in Oslo's government district and carrying out a shooting massacre at a summer camp for left-wing youth activists.
He was declared criminally sane at his trial, although the prosecution argued that he was psychotic.
He did not appeal his sentence but unsuccessfully sued the government for human rights violations for denying him the right to communicate with sympathisers.
Although Norway's maximum prison sentence is 21 years, Breivik could be held longer under a provision that allows authorities to keep criminals in prison for as long as they're considered a menace to society.
The three-judge Telemark District Court is expected to rule on his parole request later this month.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here