Terror defendant Zaniar Matapour (44) has had to move in the courtroom when two victims explain themselves today.
– We have solved it by him moving a notch towards us, says defender Marius Dietrichson to Dagbladet.
AGREED: Defense lawyer Hege Salomon (tv) agreed with the defenders Marius Dietrichson and Albulena Krasniqi about Matapour’s location. Photo: Bjørn Langsem / Dagbladet Show more
Hege Salomon, counsel for the two witnesses, including Støttegruppa 25. June leader Espen Evjenth, states that she actually wanted the 44-year-old defendant to sit in the back row. This is what she said first NRK this morning.
– They didn’t want that, so now it will be like this, she says to Dagbladet.
The reason for the request is that Matapour initially sits less than two meters from the witness box and thus the witnesses.
– Will the move be permanent?
The price of evil
– I can imagine that several of the offended parties also want to keep him at a distance, but we’ll see.
Even after the first two witnesses, Matapour remains seated in his new place.
hull i panna
Evjenth explains himself freely and effortlessly in the witness box. At one point he is shown a picture of himself in the hospital bed, with a large gaping bloody hole on the left side of his forehead.
– It’s the first time I’ve seen these pictures. I am the luckiest man in Oslo who survived, says the 42-year-old.
RIGHT: Terror defendant Zaniar Matapour and defender Henrik Lyngvær Ramstad have now moved one notch to the right. Photo: Bjørn Langsem / Dagbladet Show more
Zaniar Matapour never once looks away from the man he shot and changed his life drastically. For the most part, he rests his head in his left hand – and thus turns his gaze away from the witness box – and looks down at documents on the table in front of him.
Evjenth was at the London Pub with his roommate, dancing to his favorite song by the band Yeah Yeah Yeahs – ironically called “Off with Their Heads” – when he was hit by Matapour’s shot.
– It’s as if someone hits me in the head with an anvil, he says.
Sinus injuries
The 42-year-old describes that when he lost consciousness, it was as if “the light went on on such an old fluorescent TV”.
Evjenth was helped by a number of people at the nightclub, and was eventually taken to hospital, where he remained for some time.
SE LIVE: Zaniar Matapour appears in the Oslo District Court, charged with aggravated terrorism after he opened fire outside… Show more
Like so many other victims, the support group leader struggles with delayed injuries, and has been in rehabilitation.
– Simply put, it’s a brain injury – I have difficulty concentrating, especially learning, he says.
This has caused problems in his working life, from which he had to take “quite a long” break. Now he works in a 25 percent position.
– It feels extremely disempowering, he says.
– Very uncomfortable
Evjenth says that it was mentally difficult for him to travel outdoors in the city after the shooting.
MORE DISTANCE: Espen Evjenth gets Matapour one step further when he explains himself. Photo: Bjørn Langsem / Dagbladet Show more
– I was afraid that I would become the target of evil forces. So that someone would see my wound and think that they should finish the job, says the 42-year-old.
He lives in the Gamle Oslo district, which has a large immigrant population.
– I was afraid that there would be someone there who was radicalized and saw me as a target, says Evjenth.
– The 42-year-old emphasizes that throughout his adult life he has worked closely with and knows many people with a Muslim background.
– Having a fear associated with it was very unpleasant. I have worked hard so that it will not give me new prejudices, because that is not the way the world is.
OSLO DISTRICT COURT: Espen Evjenth, leader of the Support Group on 25 June, was shot in the head during the Oslo terror attack. This is how he reacted to seeing the defendant Zaniar Matapour in court. Video: Anabelle Bruun/Dagbladet TV. Reporter: Ralf Lofstad Show more
– Did you have any such thoughts before this happened? asks prosecutor Aud Kinsarvik Gravås.
– No, I didn’t have that.
Projectile in the throat
Fredrik Fossmark Fjetland (29) says that he was standing at the London Pub when he noticed a glass breaking on his right. At first he thought what he felt in his throat were pieces of glass, but eventually it dawned on him that he had been shot.
At first the 29-year-old – and the doctors – thought he was only hit by a stray shot – but the X-ray of “something hard” in his throat turned out to be a piece of Matapour’s bullet.
– I thought: “Oh, shit.” So now I walk around with a projectile in my throat, says Fjetland in the witness box.
Shot in the head: The fight back
It turned out that the injuries were limited and not life-threatening.
“It wasn’t your turn this time,” the 29-year-old recalls from the train of thought on that fateful evening.
He turns so that the judges and the parties can see when he points to where he was hit – in the neck on the right side, just below the ear.
– Can you feel it now? asks prosecutor Sturla Henriksbø.
– In the.
Back in London
Fjetland was told by the psychiatrists that he could go back to work “on Monday” (two and a half days after the shooting).
– I thought it wasn’t so smart, that I had to take a little break. But I was told that I had to take my life back, that there was no threshold.
FOREVER: Fredrik Fossmark Fjetland (29) has to walk around for the rest of his life with a projectile bite on the right side of his neck. Photo: Bjørn Langsem / Dagbladet Show more
The result was that the young man from Jæren called in sick for two weeks. In the meantime, he worked on just getting his life back.
– I was back in London already on Saturday. In the evening I watched the Pride train. It was for my own sake – so I wouldn’t get into trouble with it.
Even now, Matapour does not turn his gaze once towards the witness box, but mostly looks down at the table.
Thrown himself down
Marius Kulberg (36) was sitting next to murdered Kåre Hesvik (60) in the pub Per on the corner. He describes the seconds when Matapour opened in fire on the night of June 25, 2022.
Aisha Kausar (32) charged with terrorist involvement
– We hear screaming. My mate sees that he [Matapour] comes, and shouts “Doll!”. We throw ourselves down on command, trying to hide as best we can.
The 36-year-old was hit in the thigh, but did not notice it then and there.
– I’m just trying to hide. Sees a man in yellow. Seeing what I feel is an evil look. Sees the weapons – a pistol and a machine gun, he says.
Kulberg tried to get in touch with Hesvik – but got no response. He mourns his friend.
CHAOTIC: Chaotic scenes unfolded during and after the attack outside Per on the corner and London Pub. Photo: Javed Parsa / NTB Show more
– I am very happy that I have known him and got to know him – we have had many pleasant moments. He was a wonderful and inclusive person, who talked to everyone. It is an incredibly big loss to lose such a good friend, says the 36-year-old.
Sat just behind
Kulberg also has delayed effects after the attack.
– I struggle with being very anxious, he says.
The 36-year-old was sitting just behind Hesvik in the outdoor dining area when the shots fell.
– If Kåre hadn’t been shot… I’ve thought about the thought that I could have been killed – he was sitting right in front of where I was sitting. I’ve thought about it a lot.
MURDERED: Kåre Hesvik (60) was shot and killed outside Per on the corner. Photo: Private Show more
– Life was very, very good, says Markus Kvarving (36) about the time before he was shot in the shoulder and above the right eyebrow by Zaniar Matapour outside the London Pub.
– Black in the eyes
The 36-year-old, originally from Trøndelag, says that he made eye contact with the shooter.
– He was black in the eyes, says Kvarving, who did not notice that he had been shot until the following day.
Although the injury was not life-threatening, he has significant late-onset injuries that affect his life today. Among other things, nerves were torn.
IMPRESSION: Life after he was shot is very different to life before the incident for Markus Kvarving (36). Photo: Bjørn Langsem / Dagbladet Show more
– I have a lot of pain down my back and in my shoulders, up behind my ear. Sitting still for too long, or lying down for too long, doesn’t work, says the 36-year-old.
Nightmare
He also describes psychological problems and sleep difficulties.
– When it’s on, it’s intense. I get nightmares. They’re about me walking around and looking at the clock – it’s getting close to a time when I know it’s going to strike. I wake up to a bang, that I see the perpetrator again, says Kvarving.
– People I care about are in my dreams. The roommate, my brother. See that they are also shot and killed. It is difficult.
Prosecutor Sturla Henriksbø wants to hear what the 36-year-old thinks about the terrorist defendant Matapour not wanting to be present during the witness statements – a wish the Oslo District Court has refused to grant.
– If he is going to take on that job, if you can say that – to go around and create fear – he has to accept the consequences of that. I can’t wait to walk out of this room and get on with my day. He can’t do that.