IS attacker in Oslo sentenced to maximum penalty
In June 2020, a gunman killed two men and seriously injured others at a gay club in Oslo during the Pride Festival. The Oslo Court sentenced the 45-year-old Norwegian of Iranian descent to 30 years in prison - with possible extension - for committing a "serious terrorist act."
The Oslo Court explained in its judgment that the attack by Zaniar Matapour "clearly targeted homosexual people." The goal was to "kill as many homosexuals as possible and set LGBTQ people in general in fear and terror." Matapour was also ordered to pay around 8.8 million Euros in damages.
On the night of June 24, 2022, just hours before the Pride Parade was due to begin, Matapour opened fire outside a Jazz Club and a gay club in central Oslo. He killed two men and injured nine others. The Pride Festival was subsequently canceled.
Matapour had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, but the court ruled that he "knew exactly what he was doing before and during the attack."
During the trial, Matapour's lawyer accused an investigator from the Norwegian Security Service of provoking the attack by encouraging his client to swear allegiance to the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS).
In June 2023, the Security Service apologized following a report concluding that the attack could have been prevented.
In May 2024, Pakistani authorities extradited the suspected mastermind of the attack, Arfan Bhatti, to Norway. According to police reports, Bhatti is suspected of "aiding and abetting a serious terrorist act." He faces a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Bhatti had left Norway before the attack. The trial against him is scheduled for a later date.
The attack on the gay club during Oslo's Pride Festival in 2020 was labeled as a "serious terrorist act" against the LGBTQ community by the International Community, highlighting Norway's struggle with extremism. The alleged mastermind of the attack, Arfan Bhatti, was later extrajudicially handed over to Norwegian authorities in 2024, charged with aiding and abetting terrorism. The motivation behind Matapour's assassinations was rooted in radical Islamic beliefs, as his lawyer claimed an investigator from the Norwegian Security Service provoked him to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State.
