The front page of a newspaper the day after Hasan Zatara was shot. Screengrab from Shot by the Laser Man.
On the 30th of January 1992, a man walked into Hasan Zatara’s store next to Hägersten’s tube station in Stockholm and shot him in the head. The perpetuator was John Ausonius, a.k.a. Lasermannen ["the Laser Man" in Swedish].
During five months in 1991 and 1992, Lasermannen shot at least 11 people. The Lasermannen case became the second largest and most comprehensive police investigation in the history of Sweden – after the murder investigation of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986.
Lasermannen’s deeds were inspired by the political party New Democracy, which was a populist and xenophobic party that became members of the Swedish parliament in 1991. The only thing Lasermannen’s victims had in common were the fact that they were immigrants. Ironically, Lasermannen was of other origin than Swedish himself, and it has since been reported how he experienced growing up alienated and bullied due to this, which might be the reason to his psychological issues.
From left: Adam Tensta, Mustafa Zatara and Hasan Zatara. Screengrab from Shot by the Laser Man.
Hasan Zatara was fortunately not killed by the shot in his head. However, after weeks in coma, he woke up unable to speak, with half of his body paralysed. In the 22 years since he was shot, his seven children have learned to communicate with him through body language. With the upcoming Swedish election on Sunday the 14th of September, Swedish rapper Adam Tensta decided to meet Zatara for the first ever interview with him together with his son Mustafa. This has turned into a video that Tensta released today.
I called up Tensta to talk about the video, and the similarities between Sweden in the 90s and Sweden today.
VICE: Tell me about the subject matter of this video.
Adam Tensta: The video is a small insight into the thoughts of Hassan Zatara and how his life has been since he was shot. There are also thoughts around racism, and things that he hasn’t had the chance to speak his mind about ever since this happened.
Why has this engaged your attention?
I think it’s important that people get to see a face of a victim of racism. So that people don’t think that there’s only a matter of numbers and statistics – that it actually affects common people and their lives in many ways. This is an example of how the lives of an entire family have changed following a racist action.
Has racism affected you personally?
Are you kidding me? Yeah, definitely! It’s been everything from racists chasing me – I've been running for my life – to small bits of everyday racism.
Like what?
Such as being considered exotic cause I’m speaking good Swedish. And that people will always tell you that you’re not like they are. You know that thing, “dude, you speak really good Swedish – are you born here?” I can never be a “Swede”. These are bits that can be communicated in pretty innocent ways without people thinking about them. But it affects people more than what you would think – to never be allowed to feel accepted in a way, or not be allowed to be who you are in front of other people. You get me? It’s about the way you look, or what religion you follow, and etcetera. There’s racism on a range of different levels and ways in society. It’s not always manifested in violence – it can be something simple as, “is it bothering for you that I call [chocolate balls] ‘nigger-balls’”. You get me?
Yeah. Upon meeting Hasan, was there anything you felt was particularly strong?
It felt like he had been imprisoned in his bubble for such a long time. There was this one thing – that you can’t see in the video – but he was standing on his balcony when we arrived to the building where he lives. It was a really strong feeling that he really wanted this to happen, and that he had been waiting for this moment. I think it’s weird that he hasn’t had the chance to speak his mind before. That's pretty insane actually. There are so many stories that are waiting to be heard.
There are plenty of documentaries about Lasermannen and the things that happened at the time. But it feels like it hasn’t been that much about the victims, and their stories.
I’m not so sure about that so I can’t comment on that. But if it is that way, it’s obviously a shame. I mean these are the people who have been affected the most.
How did you get in touch with Hasan?
I know Hasan’s sons. I usually see Mustafa at least once a week. He told me that no one has ever interviewed his dad. We were talking about racism and how to break free from that problem. And we were talking about how racism has become this matter of statistics and numbers rather than a face, or a face that people accept. So Mustafa obviously came to think of his dad who’s been shot by Lasermannen, and that it’d be interesting to interview him about this. So that’s where it all began.
When you guys were growing up together, did you notice anything as a friend, how the sons were affected by their dad’s situation?
I saw the family when the kids were back at school. The teachers and the principle had already had meetings with us. We were very young when it happened, but you understood pretty quickly that their lives wouldn’t be the same again. I mean it was obvious how incredibly sad they were. We were in the same classes, but we were hanging on our breaks and all siblings were obviously completely destroyed.
Mustafa and Hasan Zatara. Screengrab from Shot by the Laser Man.
It might be difficult to remember now, but did you understand at the time that there were racist motives behind this deed? And did that affect you and your friends?
We talked about it at home and mum didn’t really want us to go out and play as we usually did. Because you know she had heard about this man shooting people with immigrant backgrounds. So we discussed it quite a lot at school – at least in our neighbourhoods. Especially considering that it had affected pupils at our school. And we followed the news. And we were a bit paranoid when we were outside – cause anyone could have become his victim. There wasn’t anything saying that he wouldn’t shoot on kids. We thought about it you know. But as time passed, the more it turned into some kind of legend, almost like an urban legend. And then we saw it again with this new Lasermannen, Peter Mangs [racist shootings in Malmö in 2009].
If you look at the situation today, what is it – according to you – that feels most terrifying?
The fact that there are so many similarities between how it was then and how it is now is in a way a bit like a relief. Because then you can hope that the rampage of the far-right will be repressed by the anti-racist movement in the same way it was in the 90s. There used to be New Democracy, but that turned out to be a craze. Hopefully, the Sweden Democrats will be hit by the same thing – that it’s a temporary craze, which has its peak time now. It’s interesting and at the same time very terrifying that we’re experiencing the same cycle all over again. That there is a new Lasermannen and yet another peak for xenophobic parties.
What are your hopes regarding how people will feel when they watch this?
I don’t think that this will change the minds of people who intend to vote for the Sweden Democrats. I don’t think that will happen, as those people are pretty extreme with their extreme opinions and feelings for their party. But I hope that we’ve put a face on what racism can cause. Many people imagine that racism doesn’t exist. That there isn’t any structured racism, no discrimination, and etcetera. I just want to show them all that, this is Sweden and this is the affects racism can have.
Watch Adam Tensta's video Shot by the Laser Man here [in Swedish].
@caisasoze
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