Psychiatric specialist believes Zaniar Matapour has chronic schizophrenia

Not only has Matapour displayed a number of the symptoms that form the basis of a chronic schizophrenia diagnosis – they have been expressed to several therapists and aid agencies over a number of years, noted psychiatrist Synne Sørheim in the Oslo District Court on Thursday.

The terror trial following the mass shooting in Oslo almost two years ago is entering its final stages. One of the last points on the program may also be the decisive one: the assessments of whether Zaniar Matapour (44) was criminally sane when he picked up two weapons and fired at revelers in central Oslo on the night of 25 June 2022.

Sørheim disagrees with the other two who are court-appointed experts, the psychological specialists Knut-Petter Sætre Langlo and Pål Grøndahl. They believe Matapour’s symptoms cover the diagnoses of paranoid and dyssocial personality disorder.

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– For the record, it is also mentioned that the expert (Sørheim, editor’s note) considers simulation to be out of the question, said Sørheim.

The experts must not conclude whether the defendant was insane or not, but give the court their medical assessments. Ultimately, it is the court that must answer the questions of whether the defendant had “a strongly deviant state of mind”, and if so, whether it made the person in question criminally insane.

Long-term treatment

Sørheim pointed out that Matapour has had a very long-term contact with the mental health service. It already started when he was 18 years old. Prior to that, Matapour had been under the care of child protection since he was 15 years old.

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In a number of notes and journals from various aid agencies, reference is made to behavior that was understood as paranoid, and which was eventually used as the basis for Matapour’s diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia:

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* A series of delusions, which have expressed themselves in a paranoid demeanor and statements.

* Hallucinations, primarily voices he has heard, saying they are looking for him and are going to kill him.

* Striking and hostile behavior and body language. Scowling and suspicious look.

* Poor and staring eye contact.

* Signs of thought disorders, which have resulted in him being perceived as slow in his speech, taking long pauses before answering questions and occasionally falling out while speaking.

Matapour has not been treated in the specialist psychiatric health service after 2010.

Lifelong diagnosis

Two of Matapour’s therapists from the beginning of the 2000s have confirmed in conversations with Sørheim that the symptoms they registered at the time met the criteria for paranoid schizophrenia, and that the diagnosis was chronic.

One of them emphasized after reviewing his own notes from 2005 that he had no doubts about the diagnosis.

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Sørheim reviewed in detail the basis for the earlier diagnosis and concluded that she could stand behind it. In assessing whether Matapour could have recovered after the last diagnosis and thus at the time of the action, Sørheim referred to the diagnosis manual:

– If the qualitative criteria have been met for a period of one month or more, they will be there for life, she said.

The diagnosis of the psychologists Langlo and Grøndahl may suggest that Matapour was criminally sane on the night of 25 June 2022. Sørheim’s diagnosis, on the other hand, probably means that he must be considered insane at the time of the crime. This means that he cannot be punished if the court agrees.