It was during the night of Saturday 25 June two years ago that Zaniar Matapour opened fire on guests at a bar in central Oslo. He then moved on to a popular gay bar and continued shooting.
Two men in their 50s and 60s were killed and several injured had to be treated in hospital.
Oslo’s pride festival had been organized during the week of the crime and Saturday’s planned pride parade was canceled for security reasons. Despite the advice, a spontaneous parade with about a hundred people marched through the capital.
Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia
The now convicted 45-year-old Zaniar Matapour was arrested shortly after the crime. According to the prosecutor, he had sworn allegiance to the IS terrorist movement before the shooting, which he denied.
The Norwegian security police have known about him since 2015 and even then there were suspicions of radicalization.
At least 560 people were in the area when Matapour opened fire. A total of 312 people have been counted as plaintiffs. According to information to the newspaper VG, the shooter is now sentenced to pay more than 110 million Norwegian kroner in damages to the victims.
Zaniar Matapour, who is a Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin, was previously diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, according to court documents.