• Zaniar Matapour is accused of killing two men and injuring 21 others when he opened fire near a gay bar in central Oslo.
• The 43-year-old will have no contact with the outside world until July 25, said Oslo District Court.
• He has been charged with “terrorist acts”, murder, and attempted murder, but has so far refused to be interrogated by police.

The suspect in a weekend shooting in Oslo that killed two people and injured 21 others was remanded in custody for four weeks, On Monday.

Zaniar Matapour will have no contact with the outside world until July 25, according to the Oslo District Court.

The 43-year-old is accused of killing two men, ages 54 and 60, and injuring 21 others when he opened fire near a gay bar in central Oslo in the early hours of Saturday morning, amid Pride festival celebrations.

Norwegian police said they were still investigating Matapour’s motive.

He has been charged with “terrorist acts”, murder and attempted murder, but has so far refused to be interrogated by police.

According to his lawyer, he fears investigators will manipulate video recordings of his questioning.

Matapour, a Norwegian of Iranian origin, will undergo a preliminary psychiatric evaluation to help determine the state of his mental health and whether he can be held legally responsible for his actions.

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He had been known to Norway’s PST intelligence service since 2015, with concerns about his radicalization and membership of “an extremist Islamist network”.

Police said they were examining several possible theories, including an attack motivated by ideology, unstable mental health, a hate crime against the LGBTQ community, or a combination of factors.

The PST said it did not pick up on any “violent intent” when its services interviewed him last month.

Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said there would be a review into the police and PST’s handling of the case.

Nordic ministers visited the site of the attack on Monday, saying in a joint statement that they “stand together with the LGBTI community and against all forms of violence”.

“We fear that there will be another act,” said PST chief Roger Berg on public television.

“We have seen cases of this in the past in other countries, and it is not uncommon for some to be inspired by it.”

Oslo’s Pride parade, which had been scheduled to take place for the first time in three years due to the Covid pandemic, has been postponed indefinitely.

According to Norwegian media, Matapour, who arrived in Norway as a child, is now a father living on social benefits.

He has previously been convicted for relatively minor offenses.

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