It is nothing new that the Austrian National Union of Students (ÖH) at the University of Vienna, which is funded by compulsory student fees, harbours great sympathy for violent far-left groups such as Antifa. What is new, however, is that it apparently has no qualms about associating with violent Islamists either. The ÖH at the University of Vienna is organising an event entitled “Almost 25 Years of Guantánamo”, at which two former Guantánamo detainees are due to speak, including the ex-Al-Qaeda terrorist Mohamedou Ould Slahi.
According to the ÖH Vienna, this event is about “examining the lasting shift in the standards of the rule of law in the name of security, particularly in the context of the ‘War on Terror’. It will address fundamental principles such as the prohibition of arbitrary detention, the right to a fair trial and the absolute ban on torture. Through the contributions of former detainees Mohamedou Ould Slahi and Abdellatif Nasser, as well as former prison officer George Macmasters, these issues will not be discussed in abstract terms, but will be brought to life through concrete real-life experiences.”
FPÖ Secretary-General Christian Hafenecker, who is also chairman of the parliamentary committee for science, research and digitalisation, points out that Slahi himself has publicly admitted to having been a member of the terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda in the early 1990s and to having sworn an oath of allegiance to it. “How is it possible that people with such backgrounds are courted at Austrian universities and given a platform under the guise of supposed human rights discourse? How can such potential dangerous individuals even enter our country?” asked Hafenecker.
For Hafenecker, this event seems particularly outrageous given that a trial is currently underway against an IS terrorist who murdered a child in Villach: “Whilst the population is increasingly suffering from imported security problems, former Al-Qaeda members are allowed to appear at universities without issue and are presented there as participants in discussions. This is a slap in the face for all Austrians who are suffering from the growing Islamist threat in the country.”