It was on the night of 25 June 2022 that the extremist Islamist Zaniar Matapur shot and killed two people outside the pubs Per på kørnket and London Pub in the center of Oslo.
The London Pub is well-known as a go-to place for people from the quiet surroundings of Oslo.
Nine others received gunshot wounds and a total of 23 people were injured. The 45-year-old man accused of terrorism denies guilt, but does not contest the conditions he is accused of in the mass shooting.
The facts about the terrorist trial
* At 1.13 on Saturday 25 June 2022, Zaniar Matapour (44) fired shots at people inside and outside the bar Per på Hjørnet and the queer nightclub London Pub on CJ Hambros plass in the center of Oslo. The shots were fired with a pistol and a machine gun.
* Kåre Arvid Hesvik and Jon Erik Isachsen were killed by the shots, while nine others suffered gunshot wounds.
* After firing the shots, Matapour ran from the scene, but was soon captured and overpowered by civilians.
* 266 people have a conviction status in the case.
* PST has known Matapour since 2015, and is concerned that he was then radicalized and was part of a very large Islamic contact network in Norway.
* In November last year, Matapour was charged with aggravated terrorism following the shooting. According to the prosecutor’s office, Matapour swore allegiance to IS before attacking the nightclubs.
* The trial takes place in Oslo District Court from 12 March to 16 May.
* Four others have been accused in the case, including the Islamist Arfan Bhatti. He and the other three deny criminal guilt. The cases of the accused have not been fully investigated.
* Bhatti has been charged with complicity in terror and is currently incarcerated in Kongsvinger prison. Charges have not yet been brought against him.
SOURCE: NTB
Also read: Dramatic images from inside the London pub: – They shouted “lay down, lay down”
Therefore he was convicted
Nettavisen is informed that Matapour has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. This is the most severe sentence given to anyone today. In addition, he was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison.
This is in line with the prosecution’s claim.
This is the first time that this strict provision has been used in relation to serious terrorism in Norway.
It is not known how Matapour will respond to the verdict. Nettavisen was unable to get comments from his main defender Marius Dietrichson.
For NRK, he says he is going in the direction he will recommend that his client appeal the verdict.
Matapour was also sentenced to pay NOK 112.5 million in compensation to the victims and survivors in the case. According to the judgment, this is 312 people.
The judgment states that the damages are divided into four categories:
- NOK 550,000 for victims in group 1 (10 victims with gunshot wounds)
- NOK 450,000 for victims in group 2 (9 victims arrested by Matapour)
- NOK 350,000 for victims in group 3 (291 victims at and near the crime scene)
- NOK 500,000 for survivors in group 4 (2 survivors)
In the judgment, which has been accessed by Nettavisen, the court also seems to believe that Matapour intended to carry out a terrorist attack.
“The murders and attempted murders were premeditated. The court accepts that this would result in the law’s most severe penalty for murder, 21 years in prison. The punishment must be further strengthened because the murders and attempted murders were committed with terrorist intent.”says the judgment.
The court will first assess the condition of the risk of repetition, ie whether, assessed at the time of sentencing, there is an immediate risk that Matapour will repeat a serious offense that violates the life, health or freedom of others (…) .
“The seriousness of the crime of which the defendant is convicted, serious terrorism, is one of the most serious imaginable. As follows from the review above in the judgment, Matapour’s actions were based on extremist Islamic views. He had been radicalized for years, and before the attack had sworn allegiance to IS, considered one of the worst and most brutal terrorist organizations in existence. His attitude and sympathies with IS suggest, in the court’s view, that there is a significant risk that very serious acts will be repeated.”says the judgment.
The court: He has not shown remorse
The court also points out that Matapour has shown no remorse after the attack.
“Nor has he said anything to the experts or others who have been in contact with him during the approximately 2-year period of custody that indicates that his attitude has changed or will change. The experts Grøndahl and Langlo showed in their statement that many risk factors for future violence are present.
Expert Sørheim also concluded that there is a high risk of future violence, but her conclusion must be seen in the light of the fact that she has made a different decision than Grøndahl and Langlo as to whether Matapour has paranoid schizophrenia.”
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During the trial, there was essentially agreement between the prosecution and the defense that the purpose of the attack was terror. But whether or not Matapour is criminally implicated is hotly debated.
The court also points out that Matapour showed no compassion for the victims or any change of attitude.
“In conversations with experts and others, Matapour mainly concerned himself and his questions related to his children, and he did not want to talk about the act of terrorism.”
Also read: PST Nettavisen CEO: Zaniar Matapour was an IS sympathizer
Proximity to Arfan Bhatti
The court also believes that the overall information in the case shows that the terrorist attack was planned for a long time before it happened, but that it is difficult to determine with certainty when the planning began.
Also read: This is Arfan Bhatti – the gangster turned Muslim
The court also believes that Matapur has a very close role with the true Islamist Arfan Bhatti in the planning. Bhatti, along with three others, has been charged with murder and terrorism and is currently in custody in Kongsvinger prison.
“On the one hand, it is not quite certain that the ordering of the clothes used during the attack, in January 2022, was part of the planning. On the other hand, according to the court’s assessment, Matapour was definitely part of the planning and that he made conscious choices to prepare the attack for a long time before he took the bayah (a pledge of allegiance to the terrorist organization The State Islamic, ie editor’s note) on 25 June 2022 at . 00:25 »says the judgment.
In court, it was also known that Matapour had IS material on that MacBook and that Bhatti also had items at home that indicate IS sympathies. Nettavisen knows that an IS flag was seized from Bhatti. Even the sharpest people are a legitimate target for IS.
“On two of Matapour’s services, photographs were found of police officers participating in the Pride march. The court also refers to the message correspondence in the WhatsApp group from June 2022, where Arfan Bhatti sent links about Pride, including the Pride program. There is no doubt that the participants in the WhatsApp group for homosexuals had little left, without the court seeing the need to reproduce concrete messages about that here.says the judgment.
In addition to Matapour and Bhatti, there was a man in his 30s in the WhatsApp group. He is also good friends with Bhatti and was convicted of weapon possession in 2019. In this case, Bhatti was also arrested and charged, but the case was dismissed on the basis of evidence and he was acquitted. The state also awarded him NOK 30,000 in compensation.
Extremist Bhatti has been convicted several times in the past, but has also been acquitted in several criminal cases.
“On June 14, Bhatti changed the cover photo on his Facebook profile to a burning rainbow flag and a rainbow flag with a prohibition sign and a Koranic verse about killing homosexuals. After the attack, he wrote to the E-service agent that the planning took some time. A few days before, on June 11, Matapour bought the bag used to carry the weapons for the attack, and the court also believes that the circumstances surrounding this purchase clearly show planning “writes the court in the judgment.
Also read: The mass shooting in Oslo is considered an act of extreme Islamic terrorism
NRK also previously mentioned that Bhatti posted verses from the Koran on one of his Facebook profiles calling for homosexuals to be murdered. The police in Oslo received strong criticism from the FRP after refusing to answer questions about Bhatti’s Facebook statements.
Secret agent
Another point of contention is the use of an undercover agent by the National Intelligence Service. The defender Marius Dietrichson criticized that agents from the E-service have chatted with the true Islamist Arfan Bhatti and his ex-wife Aisha Shezida Kausar, who also belong to the extreme Islamic community in Norway.
They are both accused of complicity in the act of terrorism. Bhatti denies criminal guilt, although it is uncertain how Kausar will react to the question of guilt. She is in the al-Roj detention camp in north-east Syria. She has been there with her minor son since 2019.
Dietrichson believes the terrorist attack would never have happened if it weren’t for the secret agent.