Inmates are taking legal actions against prison management for the right to watch hardcore pornography.

In Norway citizens over the age of 18 have the right to possess hardcore pornography, but that’s not the case for the inmates at the Ila prison complex on the outskirts of Oslo. This has angered the inmates and they are now taking legal action against the prison management to have this decision overturned.

Several inmates have demanded a change of policy.

- The right to possess hardcore pornography should be a human right. Even though society wants to lock us up and deny us any perks, I still think that they have sympathy for our needs, Tor Erik Larsen (43) tells Norwegian newspaper VG.

He is currently serving a murder sentence and he has spent almost a third of his life behind bars. He thinks the management are guilty of double standards when they allow inmates to watch violent movies, but not pornography.

The prison management have justified their decision, saying that allowing hardcore pornography inside the prison could jeopardize the safety of the inmates.

- What’s legal on the outside should also be legal on the inside. The prison laws at Ila are violating the individual’s right to privacy and they are violating the individuals human rights. We have to make a distinction between what’s legal and what isn’t, and not whether an individual is in prison or not, defence lawyer Ann Turid Bugge, who is assisting the convicted 43 year old inmate tells VG.

Source: VG Nett