Four suspected IS supporters will stand trial in Linz on Thursday. Three young men (16, 17, 19) and a young woman (19) are said to have shared relevant material in a chat group and set up a private mosque with IS décor in their living room.
According to the lawyers, the two younger ones have distanced themselves from the accusations, while the 19-year-olds – a couple – deny a great deal or feel misunderstood, according to their lawyers’ statements at the beginning of the trial.
In autumn 2023, a ten-member radical Islamist group was disbanded in the Linz-Land district, to which nine men and one woman aged between 15 and 23 are said to have belonged. As reported by the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN) at the time, they are said to have been involved with the terrorist organisations ‘Islamic State’ (IS) and ‘Emirate of the Caucasus’. One member was already sentenced in St. Pölten to two years, partly conditional, and another last week in Linz to 18 months, partly conditional (legally binding), both for terrorist organisation, among other things. The teenagers now on trial must also answer for the crimes of terrorist association and criminal organisation.
According to the indictment, relevant content and IS propaganda videos were shared on social media, including an execution video and worship of the radical Islamist hate preacher Mirsad O., alias Ebu Tejma, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison. During the investigation, it emerged that a mosque had been set up in the flat of the two 19-year-olds, decorated with an IS flag and equipped with a large number of books with radical Islamic ideas, according to the public prosecutor. They had also met there with other IS supporters, including those who had already been convicted. The public prosecutor is certain: ‘This flat was to become a special mosque for IS supporters’.
All defendants pleaded guilty in part. The 16-year-old Iraqi admitted to producing a video in which an execution was re-enacted and addressed as a warning to apostates. ‘We thought it would be funny,’ he said. Today he realises that it was not harmless. The 17-year-old, who was born in Austria and is a citizen of the Russian Federation, cannot explain why he sent texts calling for the killing of non-believers, for example. ‘I wouldn’t do that today,’ he said. He does not claim to have been involved in setting up the mosque; he only helped the couple pack the furniture. Both would agree to a deradicalisation programme, even if they no longer classify themselves as radical.
Hinrichtungsvideo geteilt: Vier mutmaßliche IS-Sympathisanten vor Gericht | Exxpress