nephandi
Posts: 4470
Joined: 9/23/2005
From: Cold and magickal Norway in a town near Bergen!
Status: offline
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Greetings
I feel I have to pop in and explain a few things, though I have a feeling Aswad can explain it better than me. The way it works here in Norway the most severe punishment that can be given are 21 years in prison. The Norwegian judicial system is focused on two things, rehabilitation and protection, meaning it is more important to rehabilitate a criminal and more important to protect society than to punish someone. Now while ABB have gotten 21 years in prison, that is his punishment, he have also gotten something we call (roughly translated here) confinement. What is meant by that is that once ABB is finished serving his sentence the judicial system will consider if he is still a danger to the general public of Norway and my guess is that he will be, and then they will continue to keep him imprisoned. Now this is not considered punishment, this is considered confinement to protect the public and in the prison, Ila, where ABB will be held there are men who have been in such confinement for 40 years. It is very unlikely ABB will ever be allowed out of prison again, he will be imprisoned for life, it is just that the punishment part of it is 21 years, the rest is just holding onto him to protect the public.
I see some posters ask how many people ABB might kill in prison and that he should be executed to avoid it, but here is the rub our prisons work differently than American prisons, they are heavily staffed and prisoners are sorted by the severity of their crimes. ABB will be held in the top security department at Ila and he is the only one being held in that department so the chances that he will be able to harm anyone in prison is very slim, in fact any sort of violence that leads to injuries or death is very rare in Norwegian prisons. Also this man, while he is a monster is many way, is not a raving beast. I think many forget that when they look at killers, they forget that killers like the rest of us have reasons and logic behind their actions, how would it serve ABB's cause to kill another prisoner?
Now when it comes to the death penalty do I think ABB deserves to die for his crimes, yes I do. I can think of a million horrible deaths that man deserves, however I do not think it is right for a government to kill it's citizens. There is always reasons for a murder, someone always feel justified and when a state begins to kill it's people it lowers itself down to the killer's level. Also you have all the issues with how many who through the ages have been executed wrongfully. I do not think it is right to do such things just out of a desire for vengeance. There are no statistics or data that supports that the death penalty prevents crime, it is just there for vengeance and I think that is wrong, even for a monster like ABB. That being said yes this case have raised the debate about the death penalty in Norway but I doubt that debate will lead anywhere, it is a long time since Norway had the death penalty and it just do not fit our judicial system.
Kdsub if you murdered ABB it would depend on what state you are from, if you are from a state that do not have the death penalty you would be sent back to USA if not then you would probably serve around 10 years give or take in prison. It do not matter who you kill, murder is illegal here in Norway. Also I have to agree with Rule here to call ABB evil is not right, the man is dangerous, he is horrid and his morality is despicable in my eyes, but good and evil that is just words, matters of perception and in his own mind he is not evil he is a savior. I have never liked to call something evil, for really what is good and what is evil only have relevance for the given individual.
In short do I think 21 in prison and then confinement is a fitting punishment for ABB? No, how can anything be a fitting punishment, he killed 77 people, he wounded dozens who will always bare the scars and not to mention the grief he caused to the families who never got their loved ones home or got them home mutilated, how can anyone be punished for that? What would be a bad enough punishment to set such a thing right? Nothing will set what ABB did right, what the Norwegian society can do however is to lock the man up and never let him out again, is that justice? no but nothing would be, but it is protecting our society from this fanatic who is willing to kill and mutilate to force our nation into his twisted views. How would a punishment make it better, would it bring those 77 people back if he died? ABB now can do not harm to anyone, and that is really everything anyone can do.
I wish you all well.
_____________________________
Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Futon torpedoes, make love not war!--Aswad
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RE: What gentle people you Norwegians must be. - 
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