Mass killer heads back to school

FILE – In this Friday, August 24, 2012 file photo, Anders Behring Breivik listens to the judge in the courtroom, in Oslo, Norway.

Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in 2011, to study political science from solitary confinement in prison.

He applied to Oslo University in 2013 but was turned down because his qualifications were insufficient.

The submission stirred a debate in Norway over whether someone convicted of such a horrific crime should be considered for higher education.

Anders Breivik, 36, admitted setting off a bomb in central Oslo and then travelling to a nearby island where he gunned down children at a youth camp in 2011.

Since then he has taken courses in prison and qualifies for admission.

Behring Breivik killed 77 people as an act against Muslims and multi-culturalism, and preceded his attack with a 1,500-page manifesto. However, he said that the university would abide by its rules “for our own sake, not for his”.

Breivik, who holds far-right views, has never expressed remorse for his actions, which he said were spurred by a Marxist-Islamic takeover of Europe.

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.

Public broadcaster NRK reported that these conditions would make it hard for Breivik to complete the degree as the bachelor’s programme in political science consists of nine compulsory courses, five of which require participation in seminars or personal guidance from staff. He will not be allowed to communicate with students or staff or access online learning resources.

Breivik also claimed to be part of a secretive, non-existent network of Knights Templar.

“It hurts that he is able to study but it’s like that in Norway”, the leader of a group for the victims’ families, Lisbeth Kristine Royneland, told AFP.

“‘To us, it is irrelevant whether he sits there and reads fiction or whether he is studying a book of political science”.

University of Oslo rector Ole Petter Ottersen wrote on the institution’s website about the “moral dilemma” they had faced in approving Breivik’s enrolment.

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