An Iranian-Norwegian Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for 2022 Attack on LGBTQ Celebration

A Norwegian man of Iranian descent was sentenced on Thursday, July 5, for his 2022 attack on an LGBTQ celebration in Oslo, Norway's capital, to 30 years in prison for terrorism. On June 25, 2022, during the annual LGBTQ celebration in Oslo, a shooting occurred at three locations near a popular gay bar called 'London Pub', resulting in the deaths of two people and serious injuries to nine others. The Oslo District Court stated that Zanyar Motapour fired 10 rounds with an assault rifle and eight rounds with a handgun into the crowd. He had pledged allegiance to a group known as 'Islamic State' and had believed in radical and violent Islamism for several years. The 30-year prison sentence is the harshest punishment in Norway following changes to the country's criminal laws regarding terrorist offenses in 2015. The Norwegian Intelligence Service labeled the shooting in Oslo as 'Islamic terrorism'. The prosecutor described the court's ruling as 'a correct outcome and a historic heavy sentence'. However, Mr. Motapour's lawyer described the ruling as 'severe punishment' and added that they have not yet decided on appealing the verdict. One of the victims of the attack, who was shot in the forehead, told a Norwegian media outlet: 'The ruling is a great relief.' During the trial, the prosecution presented multiple video images of the armed attack to the court. The court's ruling was not read aloud but was provided as an electronic document to the prosecution, plaintiffs, and the defendant's lawyer. The court added that the ruling would be read to Zanyar Motapour in prison. The defendant was attacked by bystanders after the shooting and was subsequently arrested. Following the attack, the Norwegian police canceled the 'Pride Parade' for LGBTQ individuals in Oslo, stating they could not guarantee the security of the event. The occurrence of this armed attack shocked Norwegian society, where violent crimes rarely happen. Deadly attacks that have occurred in this country have usually been the result of individual actions, referred to as 'lone wolf' incidents. Norway is also the site of the deadliest mass shooting in Europe, where in 2011 a man with far-right and quasi-fascist views killed 68 people in an armed attack on a gathering of the Socialist Party's youth on the island of 'Utøya', and prior to that, he killed eight others with a bomb planted in a busy area of Oslo. Six days before the attack, the Norwegian Foreign Security Service had been alerted through an undercover agent about the possibility of an armed attack in one of the Nordic countries and had forwarded this information to the domestic security agency and police. The Iranian-descendant head and representative of the Norwegian parliament condemned the deadly attack on the eve of the Pride Parade. Zanyar Motapour claimed his innocence in court. A psychiatrist appointed by the court to assess his mental state confirmed in his report that Mr. Motapour was mentally and psychologically sound at the time of the attack. Throughout the trial, both the prosecution and the defendant's lawyer agreed that Zanyar Motapour shot at the crowd and there was no disagreement regarding the terrorist motivation of this attack. However, Mr. Motapour's lawyer sought clemency for him, arguing that his client had been provoked and encouraged to carry out the attack by an undercover agent of the Norwegian domestic security service who pretended to be a senior member of 'Islamic State'. The court stated in its ruling that 'it is completely clear that there was no illegal incitement in the actions of the domestic security service and that the instigator was not a motivating factor for the terrorist act'. This trial began in March and concluded on May 16.