Oslo university admits mass killer Breivik to study program

[Lite Beer]

Oslo university admits mass killer Breivik to study program
JAN M. OLSEN, Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Convicted mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has been admitted to the University of Oslo's political science program, although he will stay in his cell to study, the university's rector said Friday.

The 36-year-old right-wing extremist is serving 21 years in prison for killing 77 people in politically motivated bomb-and-gun massacres in 2011. The sentence can be extended when it expires.

"All inmates in Norwegian prisons are entitled to higher education in Norway if they meet the admission requirements," university rector Ole Petter Ottersen said Friday in an email to The Associated Press.

Breivik's application was rejected two years ago after the university said his qualifications were insufficient. That submission stirred a debate in Norway over whether someone convicted of such a horrific crime should be considered for higher education.

Norway has a rehabilitation-focused justice system aimed at helping inmates prepare for life after they get out, which includes giving them the right to pursue higher education. Before the 2011 attacks, Breivik attended high schools in Norway and took online course in small business management. But he had not completed secondary education, which he has been working on since his 2012 conviction.

"He then didn't meet the admission requirements. Now his grades live up to what is expected," university spokeswoman Marina Tofting said.

Breivik will begin the university program in August. Prison regulations will prevent him from going to the Oslo campus, attending classes, accessing digital learning resources or having any contact with students or university staff, Ottersen said.

"It is important to us that he remains in his cell," Lisbeth Kristine Roeyneland of the victims' support group told Norwegian news agency NTB. "To us, it is irrelevant whether he sits there and reads fiction or whether he is studying a book of political science."

Hours before the attacks, Breivik emailed a 1,500-page, anti-Muslim manifesto, citing counter-jihadist groups who have condemned his actions and dismissed him as a lunatic. Breivik also claimed to be part of a secretive, non-existent network of "Knights Templar."

He set off a car bomb explosion that ripped open buildings in the heart of Norway's government quarter in Oslo, then went to a summer camp dressed as a police officer and gunned down youths as they ran and swam for their lives.

Breivik's lawyer was not immediately available for comment on the development.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-18

[Seastallion]

I don't know. I can see the Danish point of reforming etc....but this guy doesn't seem to deserve any privileges...especially since he got such a light sentence.

[Neurath]

Recent book by Asne Seierstad, One of Us:The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway (available in Kindle). Fascinating. A driven man with views so familiar and so close.

Anyway, I reckon that the course will do him and everyone some good.

[tonypace02]

I don't know. I can see the Danish point of reforming etc....but this guy doesn't seem to deserve any privileges...especially since he got such a light sentence.

Norwegian, not Danish. The story was filed by AP in Copenhagen but occurred in Oslo.

[Seastallion]

I don't know. I can see the Danish point of reforming etc....but this guy doesn't seem to deserve any privileges...especially since he got such a light sentence.

Norwegian, not Danish. The story was filed by AP in Copenhagen but occurred in Oslo.

Thanks...I initially wrote Norwegian, but something in the back of my mind said "I just read Denmark..." and a quick glance...

Cheers, anyway.

[muffy]

I can't believe this article , not too bright , but very liberal .

[Kannikapor88]

Amazing that the authorities in Europe always take side of the perp in stead of helping the victims ... Sick culture really

[MockingJay]

"The 36-year-old right-wing extremist is serving 21 years in prison for killing 77 people..."

I'd say this alone is a joke and shows how perverted and crooked our dogooder systems in Europe have become and how far they strayed off the term "common sense". Death by lethal injection already would have been a blessing for this scum in my opinion, but if I were the judge, I'd let the parents and relatives of the killed kids do with him whatever they decide to in a secluded factory building, tools provided.

Now he even is admitted to a study program... well, congratulations Oslo! If I ever feel the "urge to purge" some peope that I don't like, I will invite them to Denmark, finish them off there, turn myself in, write a book in my private prison corner while sipping a Cappucino in my private study room before I hit the gym and then sign up in your fine prison academy to study music and arts. Thanks for providing me with a plan B if all other plans fail

Edited July 18, 2015 by MockingJay

[RuamRudy]

"The 36-year-old right-wing extremist is serving 21 years in prison for killing 77 people..."

I'd say this alone is a joke and shows how perverted and crooked our dogooder systems in Europe have become and how far they strayed off the term "common sense". Death by lethal injection already would have been a blessing for this scum in my opinion, but if I were the judge, I'd let the parents and relatives of the killed kids do with him whatever they decide to in a secluded factory building, tools provided.

Now he even is admitted to a study program... well, congratulations Oslo! If I ever feel the "urge to purge" some peope that I don't like, I will invite them to Denmark, finish them off there, turn myself in, write a book in my private prison corner while sipping a Cappucino in my private study room before I hit the gym and then sign up in your fine prison academy to study music and arts. Thanks for providing me with a plan B if all other plans fail

The threat of the death penalty is clearly no deterrent or the US would not have more that twice the rate of homicides than Norway. As this article points out, the Norwegian legal system is not as weak as you suggest - the mechanism is readily available to automatically extend his sentence as he nears the end of it. Interestingly enough, it also quotes parents of some of the deceased who are satisfied with the sentencing.

Oh - and if you want to benefit from the 'soft' Norwegian legal system, best not to commit your crimes in Denmark.

[JetsetBkk]

The nutter should've been executed. I don't give a monkey's about reforming murderers. Just execute the b#stard.

[Credo]

"The 36-year-old right-wing extremist is serving 21 years in prison for killing 77 people..."

I'd say this alone is a joke and shows how perverted and crooked our dogooder systems in Europe have become and how far they strayed off the term "common sense". Death by lethal injection already would have been a blessing for this scum in my opinion, but if I were the judge, I'd let the parents and relatives of the killed kids do with him whatever they decide to in a secluded factory building, tools provided.

Now he even is admitted to a study program... well, congratulations Oslo! If I ever feel the "urge to purge" some peope that I don't like, I will invite them to Denmark, finish them off there, turn myself in, write a book in my private prison corner while sipping a Cappucino in my private study room before I hit the gym and then sign up in your fine prison academy to study music and arts. Thanks for providing me with a plan B if all other plans fail

The threat of the death penalty is clearly no deterrent or the US would not have more that twice the rate of homicides than Norway. As this article points out, the Norwegian legal system is not as weak as you suggest - the mechanism is readily available to automatically extend his sentence as he nears the end of it. Interestingly enough, it also quotes parents of some of the deceased who are satisfied with the sentencing.

Oh - and if you want to benefit from the 'soft' Norwegian legal system, best not to commit your crimes in Denmark.

The death penalty isn't a deterrent, but it does spare the rest of us from having to read stuff like this.

This guy has little or nothing to offer the academic world other than some scientists studying him. He can write a primer for future terrorists and that's not a positive for society.

[ABCer]

Interesting views expressed here.

Since Breivik is a murder case, a multiple murder case in fact, may I point out the following.

There are great many gradations or 'shades' of murder in different Legal Systems of various countries.

Just for an example: French System has a 'Crime of Passion" murder when the murderer can actually go free.

In some countries a Politically motivated killing would carry less weight in Court compared to a plain murder.

Murder in revenge (blood feud) is almost a must in some other cultures.

Etc.

Mind, please, that I am in no way approve or condemn Breivik's sentence or admission for studies.

Neither am I calling for his release or a lethal injection. He is a Norwegian and Norway dealt with him their own way. Not my business.

I do have a point which is made above and would like to see other views. Please be civil as I am allergic to needles...

[Neurath]

Please do read his manifesto - parts of which are in Seierstad's book. Truly, it could easily have been written by many posters on this very forum. Word for word in fact. So, if ideologies cause actions, something that is attested to by many with regard to radical Islam, just what are we to say about the Breivik case?

[edit] Where are the people decrying and disowning his ideas rather than only his actions? This after all is what is demanded in the case of terrorists motivated by radical Islam. No need, Breivik is 'one of us'.

Edited July 19, 2015 by Neurath

[Prbkk]

I don't care if he completes 10 PhDs while in prison, so long as his file is marked " never to be released". The prospect of him being out after 21 years, as a relatively young man, is disturbing. This crime was so awful than the punitive must outweigh any thought of rehabilitation leading to release.

[geriatrickid]

Victims didn't have a chance at university.

Edited July 19, 2015 by geriatrickid

[RuamRudy]

Victims didn't have a chance at university.

That is well understood; what is less understood by the 'hang 'em high' brigade is that there is a different perspective on this, almost a national collective, in Norway.

From this Time article: "The scenes of jubilation inside the court attest to the victims’ belief in the country’s liberal justice."

The very people who's lives have been torn apart by this awful man are satisfied with the sentence.

[Steely Dan]

Victims didn't have a chance at university.

I suggest old style liberals have words with the new who have foisted their ideological insanity on all of us. Perhaps Breivik could be enrolled on UC Berkeley's Islamophobia studies course, I think he would pass without any further study.

[RuamRudy]

Victims didn't have a chance at university.

I suggest old style liberals have words with the new who have foisted their ideological insanity on all of us. Perhaps Breivik could be enrolled on UC Berkeley's Islamophobia studies course, I think he would pass without any further study.

Can you provide examples of how liberals, either old style or new, have created chaos around the world?

As far as I can see, most of the world's trouble spots seem to be the result of neo-con aggression and the imperialist / colonialist legacies of successive western governments.

[Neurath]

Victims didn't have a chance at university.

I suggest old style liberals have words with the new who have foisted their ideological insanity on all of us. Perhaps Breivik could be enrolled on UC Berkeley's Islamophobia studies course, I think he would pass without any further study.

Pages of his Manifesto could be pasted on this Forum and no-one would blink an eye because his views, his ideological positions, are absolutely identical to that of many posters. Hell, you could paste what he says in his manifesto under the names of many posters and no-one would even know that it was him and not them. Don't believe me? Take a look: Asne Seierstad, One of Us:The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway (available in Kindle)

[BKKBobby]

Victims didn't have a chance at university.

I suggest old style liberals have words with the new who have foisted their ideological insanity on all of us. Perhaps Breivik could be enrolled on UC Berkeley's Islamophobia studies course, I think he would pass without any further study.

Pages of his Manifesto could be pasted on this Forum and no-one would blink an eye because his views, his ideological positions, are absolutely identical to that of many posters. Hell, you could paste what he says in his manifesto under the names of many posters and no-one would even know that it was him and not them. Don't believe me? Take a look: Asne Seierstad, One of Us:The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway (available in Kindle)

Indeed.

Heres a video clip showing the double standard a lot of people use:

http://m.liveleak.com/view?i=625_1317506480

Edited July 19, 2015 by BKKBobby

[Steely Dan]

Victims didn't have a chance at university.

I suggest old style liberals have words with the new who have foisted their ideological insanity on all of us. Perhaps Breivik could be enrolled on UC Berkeley's Islamophobia studies course, I think he would pass without any further study.

Pages of his Manifesto could be pasted on this Forum and no-one would blink an eye because his views, his ideological positions, are absolutely identical to that of many posters. Hell, you could paste what he says in his manifesto under the names of many posters and no-one would even know that it was him and not them. Don't believe me? Take a look: Asne Seierstad, One of Us:The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway (available in Kindle)

Indeed I see how the 1000 page rambling manifesto of a madman, who also quoted Abraham Lincoln could be moulded into a cohesive ideology in order to throw mud at other posters. After all that is what the topic is about is if not?

My view FWIW is that if attempts are made to de radicalize ISIS members and provide them with training and education then the same rights should be extended to Breivik. In my view neither should though.