The trial of a Muslim immigrant accused of killing two and seriously injuring nine at a 2022 LGBT festival in Norway started on Tuesday in Oslo. According to prosecutors, Zaniar Matapour, a 44-year-old Iranian immigrant of Kurdish background, fired ten rounds with what police described as an automatic weapon and eight rounds with a handgun into crowds. If found guilty, he is facing 30 years in prison.
Matapour has consistently refused to cooperate with investigators and did not agree to have interviews taped unless recordings of his interviews were released in their entirety to the public “with no time delay so it won’t be censored or manipulated.”
The trial opened with Matapour refusing to identify himself to the judge, instead interrupting by questioning why the trial was scheduled during Ramadan and was actively held on Fridays—the Muslim holy day—while taking a break “during Saturday and Sunday which are Christian and Jewish holy days, and for example Easter.”
Prior to the attacks, Matapour recorded himself swearing an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State, a recording that was played in the courtroom.
The accused was viewed as dangerous enough that he was not allowed a pen for note taking during the trial—only the insert of a ballpoint pen. Witnesses also requested that Matapour be moved further away from the witness box in the courtroom. Support counsel for the witnesses Christian Lundin told NRK state radio that “even if he [Matapour] right now doesn’t constitute a threat, they find it uncomfortable to sit that close to a person who has caused them so much harm.”
It was on June 25,, 2022, that the attacker struck Oslo’s nightlife quarters. The shooter targeted three different locations, all known to be frequented by members of the LGBT community. More than 20 people were harmed in the attack, and the following day’s Pride parade was canceled as police and organizers said they could not guarantee the safety of participants.
Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) said they had kept Matapour on their radar since 2015, and witnessed him becoming increasingly radicalized. Roger Berg, PST’s acting chief said in 2022 that the suspect had “a long history of violence and threats” as well as mental health issues. At the time of the shooting, he had a criminal record that included narcotics and weapons offenses. PST had interviewed Matapour about a month before the shooting “because he had shown a certain interest in statements that were interpreted as insults to Islam.” In those interviews, PST said, “it was assessed that he had no intention of violence.”
The trial continued Wednesday, with five witnesses called. In addition to Matapour, who is charged with aggravated terrorism, four others are charged with complicity.
Markus Kvarving, one of the injured in the attack, told the court:
“I have at times been angry with him, afraid of him, sad. But when I look at him now, it’s not fear of him. I’m more afraid of what he supports.”
Norway is a progressive country when it comes to LGBT rights, having legalized same-sex marriage in 2009 and being one of the first countries to allow people identifying as transgender to change their legal gender without intervention or documentation by a physician.
