A man accused of an attempted terrorist attack on a Norwegian mosque has appeared in court with bruises and scratches on his face.
It was previously revealed that the suspect, 21-year-old Philip Manshaus, was apprehended by a 65-year-old worshipper when he entered the mosque.
He is also accused of separately killing his teenage stepsister.
Manshaus did not speak in court on Monday and his defence lawyer Unni Fries told reporters he “will use his right not to explain himself for now”.He was arrested on Saturday after entering a mosque in an Oslo suburb, where three men were preparing for Sunday’s Eid al-Adha Muslim celebrations.
Police said he was waving weapons and several shots were fired but did not specify what type of weapon was used.
The court jailed Manshaus in pre-trial detention for four weeks.
One person was slightly injured before people inside the Al-Noor Islamic Centre held the suspect down until
police arrived on the scene.
Police then raided Manshaus’s nearby house and found the body of his 17-year-old stepsister.
He is also suspected in her killing, police said, but did not provide details.
The head of Norway’s domestic security agency said on Monday officials had received a “vague” tip a year ago about the suspect, but it was not sufficient to act because officials had no information about any “concrete plans” of attack.
The suspect’s lawyer declined to comment on Norwegian media reports that Manshaus was inspired by shootings in March in New Zealand, where a gunman killed 51 people, and on August 3 in El Paso,
Texas, which left at least 22 dead.The suspect smiled as he appeared in court, with dark bruises under both eyes and scratches across his face and neck.
Police had said that he was prepared to cause deaths and more injuries but did not succeed because people inside the mosque helped neutralise him.
Dagbladet, one of Norway largest newspapers, reported that on the day of the attack, Manshaus wrote online he had been “chosen” by the Christchurch gunman.
The name of the Oslo mosque is similar to the one in the
New Zealand attacks.
Norway’s prime minister Erna Solberg called the attempted attack a “direct attack on Norwegian Muslims”.
The suspect’s thwarted plans recall those of the Norwegian right-wing extremist who in 2011 killed 77 people in 2011.
Anders Behring Breivik is serving a 21-year
prison sentence for carrying out a terror attack.
According to official figures, almost 4% of Norway’s 5.3 million are refugees, and roughly 12% of the population consists of immigrants or children of immigrants.READ MORE... A 65-Year-Old Worshipper Stopped Gunman's Attempted Attack Of A Norway Mosque