Terror attack on Oslo gay bar: 30 years in prison

The judges at the Oslo District Court unanimously found the accused Norwegian with Iranian roots guilty of serious terrorist offenses. The 45-year-old was also sentenced to pay compensation totaling more than 110 million Norwegian kroner (almost 10 million euros). This is to go to the bereaved, the injured and hundreds of other victims. The man’s lawyer indicated to the broadcaster NRK that he would advise his client to appeal against the verdict.

Two dead, several injured

The perpetrator opened fire in front of a popular gay bar and a pub in central Oslo on the night of June 25, 2022, after he had pledged his allegiance to the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS). Two men were killed and several other people were injured, some seriously. The perpetrator was overpowered by passers-by shortly afterwards and then arrested by the police. The secret service classified the attack, which the 45-year-old carried out shortly before a planned and then canceled Pride parade in Oslo, as an Islamist terrorist attack.

“Historic judgment”

Norwegian media spoke of a “historic” verdict: This is the first case in which a perpetrator in the Scandinavian country was sentenced to 30 years in prison for serious terrorist offenses. Even the right-wing terrorist Anders Behring Breivik was only sentenced to 21 years in prison – the maximum sentence applicable at the time – after his attacks in Oslo’s government district and on the island of Utøya in 2012, which left a total of 77 people dead.

However, since new criminal legislation came into force in 2015, serious terrorist acts can be punished with 30 years in prison. In contrast to a normal prison sentence, detention means that the sentence can be extended every five years.