An acquaintance of the Schwedenplatz attacker is on trial in Vienna today. The 24-year-old is accused of spreading IS propaganda, including trading in IS memorabilia such as mugs with the IS logo. The accused has partially confessed.
The trial is explosive because the accused had contact with the later Vienna attacker via chat groups. He is one of the twelve men who were arrested immediately after the terrorist attack in Vienna. So far, no evidence of a concrete contribution to the crime by the 24-year-old community service worker could be found.
At the beginning of the jury hearing, the 24-year-old pleaded guilty to online trafficking in propaganda material. According to the indictment, together with his partner at the time, he had traded in IS mugs and bookmarks depicting armed fighters. For particularly good customers, there was also “IS chocolate”, according to the prosecution.
The 24-year-old played down his role in the chat groups on Whatsapp and Telegram, where calls for jihad had also been posted. According to the investigations, 2,761 messages were exchanged here. In them, homage was paid to the radical Islamic terrorist militia IS.
He had not called for jihad himself in the chats, his defence argued. In only one of his postings did this word appear at all. However, the accused affirmed that it had been a mistake to participate in the chats. Due to the partial confession of the accused, a verdict on Monday is likely. In case of a guilty verdict, the 24-year-old faces several years in prison.
According to the indictment, the 24-year-old displayed a particularly strong attitude. After his arrest, he declared during his interrogation: “Islam is my world. Of course I would like the whole world to be one big Islamic state, but that is unrealistic.” Asked how he felt about Sharia law, he replied: “Sharia law is a norm, you can’t discuss it.”
Only at the end of March, in Vienna, a 17-year-old acquaintance of the assassin was sentenced to twelve months’ partial imprisonment, not legally binding, as a member of a terrorist organisation.