Norwegian mass killer could spend only 21 years in jail

Faced with the horror of the twin attacks that took place last Friday, the public in Norway is urging changes to the country's penal system. If found guilty, a man suspected of both crimes - which claimed the lives of 76 people - could spend only 21 years in prison. Norwegian mass killer could spend only 21 years in jail However, the law also provides for the possibility of keeping convicts in jail after their sentence had been served, if they are deemed dangerous to society. Some citizens of the liberal Scandinavian country are now forming dozens of pages on social networking websites asking for death penalty to be introduced. Jails in Norway are modern and comfortable, while the country has crime rates under the European average. The number of victims from the twin attacks last week is equal to the total number of murders in all Scandinavian countries that takes place in three years. Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg avoided addressing the issue of the punishment directly, to say that the answer to the massacre should be "more democracy, more responsibility, more humanity, but not naivety". Norway abolished death penalty in 1902 for most crimes, and in 1979 this also included war crimes. The Friday attacks that killed 76 people and wounded 97 more were the bloodiest violence in Europe since al-Qaeda's Madrid train bombing in 2004. The suspect, 32-year-old Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, confessed to both attacks and appeared in court in Oslo for the first time on Monday. The hearing was held behind closed doors, and a judge will make a statement later, the BBC said. Breivik is described as an Islamophobic Christian extremist leaning toward right-wing views, and the motive for attacking the government HQ and the youth summer camp organized by the country's ruling party seems to have been political. Peoiple pay respect to the victims (Beta)

Norwegian mass killer could spend only 21 years in jail

However, the law also provides for the possibility of keeping convicts in jail after their sentence had been served, if they are deemed dangerous to society.

Some citizens of the liberal Scandinavian country are now forming dozens of pages on social networking websites asking for death penalty to be introduced.

Jails in Norway are modern and comfortable, while the country has crime rates under the European average.

The number of victims from the twin attacks last week is equal to the total number of murders in all Scandinavian countries that takes place in three years.

Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg avoided addressing the issue of the punishment directly, to say that the answer to the massacre should be "more democracy, more responsibility, more humanity, but not naivety".

Norway abolished death penalty in 1902 for most crimes, and in 1979 this also included war crimes.

The Friday attacks that killed 76 people and wounded 97 more were the bloodiest violence in Europe since al-Qaeda's Madrid train bombing in 2004.

The suspect, 32-year-old Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, confessed to both attacks and appeared in court in Oslo for the first time on Monday.

The hearing was held behind closed doors, and a judge will make a statement later, the BBC said.

Breivik is described as an Islamophobic Christian extremist leaning toward right-wing views, and the motive for attacking the government HQ and the youth summer camp organized by the country's ruling party seems to have been political.