Norwegian right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a rampage in 2011, has been allowed to study certain political science subjects in his cell, a prison warden and the University of Oslo’s rector said on Thursday.
Last month, the University of Oslo rejected an application by Breivik to enroll in a political science course, arguing that he was not academically equipped to pursue a degree.
The extremist subsequently applied for permission to take individual subjects within the course, and this has now been granted by the university.
“Norwegian law recognises that all detainees have the right to work and study,” said Karl Gustav Knutsen, warden of Skien Prison in southeast Norway, where Breivik is being held under high-security conditions.
Breivik, who describes himself as a “militant nationalist” combating a multicultural society and a “Muslim takeover” of Europe, set off a bomb in Oslo’s government district on July 22, 2011, before opening fire on participants at a Labour Youth camp on the island of Utoeya.
“Breivik does not deserve to be able to study anything,” Ingrid Nymoen, a survivor of the Utoeya shooting, remarked on Twitter.