Second terror trial this year for 17-year-old IS supporter

He will be tried from November 27th. The boy was only sentenced to 21 months of partial imprisonment by the same court at the end of January 2023. He worked as a propagandist for the radical Islamist terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS). Since October 2021, the boy had shown IS videos with execution and fight scenes to classmates at his school. He scratched the IS lettering onto a school book for a classmate with a knife. He shared relevant propaganda material on his cell phone and approved the terrorist attack in Vienna by saying in a relevant chat group that he hoped the attacker would be “accepted by Allah.” He railed against “infidels”: “Either we slaughter them or we become Shuhada (martyrs, note).”

Too extreme – even for IS sympathizers

He was too radical even for some IS sympathizers with whom the then 15-year-old was in contact. There were repeated tensions in the chat group because the student held views that were too extreme for some participants. On November 12, 2021 there was even a police operation at the boy’s school. He marched into class with a 24 centimeter long butterfly knife, opened the knife and presented it to his classmates.

A short time after the trial at the beginning of the year, in which seven months, a third of the sentence imposed on him, was handed down unconditionally, the boy was released, taking into account his pre-trial detention. After all, he had been in prison since the beginning of August 2022 for risk of committing a crime after he repeatedly went for walks with a machete with the IS logo clearly visible in the weeks before his arrest. He also sprayed “Islamic State” and the IS banner in huge letters on a pillar of the Brigittenau Bridge.

Deradicalization program instructed

In the verdict, the court gave the young IS supporter instructions to undergo a de-radicalization program and to refrain from any contact with IS circles. The 17-year-old agreed to this, but obviously didn’t keep his word. According to the new indictment, which has now become legally binding, he teamed up with an IS supporter who was a year older than him in April – just three months after his conviction – to once again distribute relevant propaganda material, including advertising brochures for IS and recruitment videos.

Man shot with air gun

On May 19, the two went to the apartment of the 18-year-old’s girlfriend in Vienna-Favoriten – the boy was apparently already married to the girl according to Islamic law. They went to the window with an air rifle and targeted an MA48 employee who was sitting on a park bench. The young people shot at the man and one projectile hit him in the thigh. In addition to terrorist association (§278b StGB), the two must therefore also stand trial for attempted grievous bodily harm in the upcoming trial, which is scheduled to last two days, in which the 18-year-old will have to answer before a jury.

Housed in a forensic therapeutic center

While the older of the two is in custody waiting for the trial to begin, the 17-year-old is being held temporarily in a forensic therapeutic center. The reason for this is a child and adolescent psychiatric report that the public prosecutor’s office had obtained. The expert consulted comes to the conclusion that the young person is sane, but has a manifest, severe personality disorder with antisocial traits.

Expert: “Advanced radicalization”

As far as his attitude towards religion and IS is concerned, there is “advanced radicalization”. In the opinion of the expert, in this case, due to the 17-year-old’s dangerousness, the requirements are met for him to be additionally admitted to a forensic-therapeutic center in the event of a conviction in accordance with Section 21 Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code. Without the therapeutic treatments that accompany prison sentences, the probability that the person with a previous conviction will commit terrorist crimes again is “very high,” warns the expert in her report.

info By clicking on the icon you can add the keyword to your topics.

info
By clicking on the icon you open your “my topics” page. They have of 15 keywords saved and would have to remove keywords.

info By clicking on the icon you can remove the keyword from your topics.

Add the topic to your topics.