A NORWEGIAN court ruled today that far-right extremist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in 2011, must remain in prison, saying there remains an obvious risk that he could return to behaviour that led up to the massacre.

Last month, Mr Breivik faced a parole hearing before the three-judge Telemark district court, where he professed white supremacist views and performed Nazi salutes on the hearing’s opening day, while claiming to have renounced violence.

But the court said he remains a potential threat. “Because his psychiatric condition is unchanged, there is an obvious risk that he will fall back on the behaviour that led up to the terrorist acts on July 22 2011,” the court said in its ruling.

Mr Breivik is serving Norway’s maximum 21-year sentence for setting off a bomb in Oslo’s government district and carrying out a shooting massacre at a summer camp for left-wing youngsters, with a provision that his time behind bars may be extended indefinitely.