Zaniar Matapour, a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen initially from Iran, was arrested shortly after Saturday’s pre-dawn taking pictures in Oslo’s nightlife district and was held on suspicion of homicide, tried homicide and terrorism.
Two individuals had been killed and greater than 20 wounded in what the Norwegian safety service known as an “Islamist terror act”.
The suspect in a lethal taking pictures forward of an LGBTQ pageant within the Norwegian capital has been ordered held in pre-trial detention for 4 weeks — two of them in solitary confinement – as he continued to refuse to be questioned.
Prosecutor Ingvild Myrold instructed Norwegian media that police on Monday had tried to query Matapour for the third consecutive day, with out success.
“We’re sticking to this concept,” she instructed Norway’s day by day Dagbladet about whether or not they had been nonetheless treating the assault as an act of terrorism.
Matapour has refused to elucidate his actions to investigators.
His lawyer, John Christian Elden, mentioned his consumer objects to having his assertion recorded and videotaped except police launch all the recording to the general public “with no time delay so it gained’t be censored or manipulated”.
Matapour arrived in Norway along with his household from a Kurdish a part of Iran within the Nineteen Nineties, in accordance with Norwegian media.
The gunman opened hearth at three places, together with outdoors the London Pub, a well-liked homosexual bar in central Oslo. Police investigators have mentioned it’s too early to say whether or not the attacker focused the LGBTQ neighborhood.
Police on Monday recognized the 2 victims as Kare Arvid Hesvik, born in 1962, and Jon Erik Isachsen, born in 1968.
A Pleasure parade scheduled for Saturday was cancelled due to the taking pictures.
In a joint assertion on Monday, the top of Norway’s nationwide police, Benedicte Bjornland, and appearing safety service chief Roger Berg mentioned they might evaluation their response to the taking pictures, saying “it is rather essential that… any weaknesses and errors are recognized shortly so as to have the ability to implement measures”.
The company identified by its Norwegian acronym PST earlier mentioned it first turned conscious of the suspect in 2015.
It had talked to the suspect in Could as a result of he had proven curiosity in demonstrations and actions perceived as insulting to Islam. “Our evaluation, after speaking to the perpetrator, was that he didn’t have violent intentions,” it mentioned.
PST additionally mentioned the suspect had a “lengthy historical past of violence and threats”, in addition to psychological well being points.
