Norway: Man guilty of deadly Oslo LGBTQ shooting
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Zaniar Matapour will serve 30 years in prison after being convicted and sentenced for an attack before a 2022 Pride celebration in Oslo. He killed two people and seriously injured nine more
Conviction 'a great relief' — head of victim support
"This is a great relief," the head of the support group for survivors and victims' relatives, Espen Evjenth, told public broadcaster NRK.
Evjenth was herself struck by a bullet in the forehead at the London Pub.
"This verdict is an important step to establish a common understanding in our society about what happened."
Prosecutor Aud Kinsarvik Gravas called it "the right outcome" and "a historically severe punishment."
The court had been presented with extensive video material of the attack. Bystanders managed to overpower Matapour and he was then arrested.
Matapour had sworn allegiance to "Islamic State" — prosecutors
Matapour, who was born in Iran and immigrated to Norway as a child, had sworn allegiance to the so-called Islamic State (IS), prosecutors said.
During the course of the trial, both the prosecution and the defense agreed Matapour had fired into the crowd and there was no disputing that the attack had been motivated by terrorism.
Matapour's lawyer, Marius Dietrichson, however, sought an acquittal, saying his client had been provoked to carry out the attack by a Danish intelligence agent posing as a high-ranking member of the IS terror group.
The shooting shocked Norway, which has a relatively low crime rate but has experienced so-called lone wolf attacks in recent decades, including one of Europe's worst mass shootings at the hands of a right-wing extremist in 2011.
kb/sms (Reuters, AFP)
Two people died, nine suffered gunshot wounds when Zaniar Matapour opened fire into a crowd outside a bar in Oslo in 2022
Martin Solhaug Standa/NTB/REUTERS
A Norwegian court has found a man guilty of carrying out a deadly gun attack at a gay bar in Oslo in 2022. The shooting took place during the city's annual Pride celebrations.
Zanier Matapour killed two people and seriously injured nine others after opening fire into a crowd outside the London Pub, a popular gay bar in the Norwegian capital.
The Oslo District Court said Matapour, fired 10 rounds with a machine gun and eight shots with a handgun into the crowd.
A Norwegian court has found a man guilty of carrying out a deadly gun attack at a gay bar in Oslo in 2022. The shooting took place during the city's annual Pride celebrations.
Zanier Matapour killed two people and seriously injured nine others after opening fire into a crowd outside the London Pub, a popular gay bar in the Norwegian capital.
The Oslo District Court said Matapour, fired 10 rounds with a machine gun and eight shots with a handgun into the crowd.
Conviction 'a great relief' — head of victim support
"This is a great relief," the head of the support group for survivors and victims' relatives, Espen Evjenth, told public broadcaster NRK.
Evjenth was herself struck by a bullet in the forehead at the London Pub.
"This verdict is an important step to establish a common understanding in our society about what happened."
Prosecutor Aud Kinsarvik Gravas called it "the right outcome" and "a historically severe punishment."
The court had been presented with extensive video material of the attack. Bystanders managed to overpower Matapour and he was then arrested.
Matapour had sworn allegiance to "Islamic State" — prosecutors
Matapour, who was born in Iran and immigrated to Norway as a child, had sworn allegiance to the so-called Islamic State (IS), prosecutors said.
During the course of the trial, both the prosecution and the defense agreed Matapour had fired into the crowd and there was no disputing that the attack had been motivated by terrorism.
Matapour's lawyer, Marius Dietrichson, however, sought an acquittal, saying his client had been provoked to carry out the attack by a Danish intelligence agent posing as a high-ranking member of the IS terror group.
The shooting shocked Norway, which has a relatively low crime rate but has experienced so-called lone wolf attacks in recent decades, including one of Europe's worst mass shootings at the hands of a right-wing extremist in 2011.
kb/sms (Reuters, AFP)
Verdict due over deadly Oslo Pride attack
Oslo (AFP) – A Norwegian court is set to deliver its verdict Thursday on a shooter who killed two people hours before Oslo's 2022 Pride festival, shocking the placid country and leading to the cancellation of the parade.
Issued on: 04/07/202]
Zaniar Matapour has never revealed his motives
© Lise Åserud / NTB/AFP/File
Zaniar Matapour, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, is accused of opening fire on June 25, 2022 outside two bars in central Oslo, including a famous gay club, just hours before the Pride Parade.
Nine other people were wounded.
Norway's public prosecutor has sought the maximum penalty of 30 years behind bars -- with possible extensions -- for the 45-year-old Norwegian of Iranian origin.
Matapour's verdict is expected around 1:00 pm (1100 GMT).
He is accused of an "aggravated act of terror".
Matapour, who was restrained by passersby after the shooting, has never revealed his motives. He has pleaded not guilty.
Psychiatric experts have been divided over his mental health, and thereby his legal responsibility, as the accused has previously been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
But the public prosecutor considered him criminally responsible and said that he deliberately targeted the LGBTQ community.
During the trial, Matapour's lawyer accused an undercover agent with Norway's domestic security service of provoking the attack by encouraging his client to pledge allegiance to IS.
He pleaded for his client to be declared criminally irresponsible, which would lead to his mandatory transfer to a secure psychiatric hospital.
In June 2023, the intelligence agency apologised after a report it commissioned, with the chief of police concluding it could have prevented the attack.
On May 3, Pakistan extradited the suspected mastermind -- Arfan Bhatti, a 46-year-old who lived in Norway.
Bhatti left Norway for Pakistan before Matapour carried out the shooting.
Bhatti, an alleged "accomplice to an aggravated act of terror", has denied any involvement and opposed his extradition.
He will be tried at a later date.
Oslo's Pride festival, scheduled to take place a few hours after the shooting, was eventually cancelled.
© 2024 AFP
Zaniar Matapour, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, is accused of opening fire on June 25, 2022 outside two bars in central Oslo, including a famous gay club, just hours before the Pride Parade.
Nine other people were wounded.
Norway's public prosecutor has sought the maximum penalty of 30 years behind bars -- with possible extensions -- for the 45-year-old Norwegian of Iranian origin.
Matapour's verdict is expected around 1:00 pm (1100 GMT).
He is accused of an "aggravated act of terror".
Matapour, who was restrained by passersby after the shooting, has never revealed his motives. He has pleaded not guilty.
Psychiatric experts have been divided over his mental health, and thereby his legal responsibility, as the accused has previously been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
But the public prosecutor considered him criminally responsible and said that he deliberately targeted the LGBTQ community.
During the trial, Matapour's lawyer accused an undercover agent with Norway's domestic security service of provoking the attack by encouraging his client to pledge allegiance to IS.
He pleaded for his client to be declared criminally irresponsible, which would lead to his mandatory transfer to a secure psychiatric hospital.
In June 2023, the intelligence agency apologised after a report it commissioned, with the chief of police concluding it could have prevented the attack.
On May 3, Pakistan extradited the suspected mastermind -- Arfan Bhatti, a 46-year-old who lived in Norway.
Bhatti left Norway for Pakistan before Matapour carried out the shooting.
Bhatti, an alleged "accomplice to an aggravated act of terror", has denied any involvement and opposed his extradition.
He will be tried at a later date.
Oslo's Pride festival, scheduled to take place a few hours after the shooting, was eventually cancelled.
© 2024 AFP
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