Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik has threatened to start a hunger strike over his living conditions in jail, it has emerged.

Breivik, who killed 77 people in 2011, compared prison to “torture” and bemoaned, among other things, the lack of an up-to-date video games console in his cell.

His comments were made in a four-page hand-written letter to penitentiary officials, which contains a dozen requests, including making his jail time compliant with European regulations. They also tackle issues of fundamental rights, such as a daily walk and communication.

Breivik requests the Playstation 2 he has access to is replaced by a more recent Playstation 3. “Other inmates have access to video games for adults while I can only play the less interesting children video games. One example is ‘Rayman Revolution,’ a game designed for 3-year-olds,” the 35-year-old wrote.

Breivik, in solitary confinement since 2011 for security reasons, claims he has behaved “in an exemplary fashion” and deserves an improved “activities offer” compared to other inmates.

Breivik also requests the doubling of his weekly allowance of 300 Norwegian crowns (36 euros), to help pay for postage stamps. All the mail he sends and receives is thoroughly searched and filtered by prison staff, which, he laments, slows his exchanges considerably.

He also requests the end to the “almost” daily body searches, access to a PC rather than “worthless typewriter, technology that dates back to 1873,” and more contact with the outside world.

Through hell

“You have put me through hell (…) and I won’t be able to survive it much longer. You are killing me,” Breivik writes to the prison authorities, brandishing the threat of a hunger strike.

“If I die, all the far right radicals and extremists in the European world will know exactly which individuals tortured me to death (…)This could have consequences for some individuals on the short term but also when Norway will have a new fascist regime in 13 to 40 years,” warns the killer, who considers himself a “political prisoner.”

In his letter, Breivik writes that a hunger strike seems like “one of the few and rare alternatives.”

“The hunger strike will not stop until [Norwegian Justice Minister Anders] Anundsen and [Norwegian Penitentiary affairs director] Marianne Vollan stop treating me worse than an animal,” he adds, before saying he will “soon” announce the beginning of his hunger strike.

In previous letters, Breivik, claiming he was a “human rights activist,” had already complained about his living conditions and had attacked the media for not publicising his “torment.” In January 2013, his lawyers announced Breivik had filed a complaint for “aggravated torture”.

On July 22, 2011, Breivik first killed eight people with a bomb near the government headquarters in Oslo, then killed a further 69, mostly teenagers, after opening fire on a Young Labour activists meeting on the island of Utøya.

(with agencies)