By Isabelle Yr Carlsson and Stine Jacobsen
OSLO (Reuters) -A Norwegian court found a man guilty of conducting a deadly shooting rampage at a gay bar in Oslo in 2022 during the city’s annual Pride celebrations, Norwegian media organisations NRK, TV2, Dagbladet and VG reported on Thursday.
The verdict will be made public at 1300 CET (1100 GMT). The court sent it to the parties involved ahead of that time.
Two people died, nine suffered gunshot wounds and 25 others were injured after the shooting at the London Pub, a longstanding hub of Oslo’s LGBTQ+ scene, as well as a nearby bar in the centre of the Norwegian capital.
Zaniar Matapour, a 45-year-old, Iranian-born Norwegian citizen, described by police as a radicalised Islamist with a history of mental illness, stood trial on charges of committing gross terrorism and murder.
He will serve 30 years in prison, which could be extended indefinitely if he is deemed to continue to pose a threat to society, the media organisations reported, a sentence that is in line with what the prosecution had asked for.
“This is a big relief,” the head of the support group for survivors and victims’ relatives, Espen Evjenth, told public broadcaster NRK.
“This verdict is an important step to establish a common understanding in our society about what happened.”
Lawyers for Matapour and the prosecution were not immediately available for comment. A lawyer representing victims’ families declined to comment before the verdict was made public.
It was not immediately clear if he would appeal the verdict. Matapour declared himself not guilty.
The verdict comes days after Oslo’s annual Pride parade, which paid tribute to the memories of the victims of the shooting.
An estimated 70,000 revellers – the equivalent of 10% of Oslo’s population – marched in this year’s event, a number a little under last year’s record of 90,000 participants.
According to the charges against him, Matapour started shooting at about 1:13 a.m. local time, some 50 minutes after swearing allegiance to the Islamic State.
He fired two weapons at people inside and outside the venues, including some who tried to hide or run away, according to the charges.
An independent inquiry into the authorities’ response concluded in 2023 that police could have prevented the attack had they acted on a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Isabelle Yr Carlsson, editing by Gwladys Fouche and Louise Rasmussen)
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