Ex-IS-Supporter Evelyn T.: Vienna Court Extends Pre-Trial Detention

This was decided by the Vienna Regional Court. As court spokeswoman Christina Salzborn confirmed upon APA request, the court continues to assume a risk of committing an offense. The 26-year-old former member of the radical Islamist terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS) is being investigated for terrorist association and criminal organization.

The pre-trial detention is likely to have been extended for another four weeks mainly because, from the judiciary's perspective, it is unclear to what extent the 26-year-old still flirts with IS ideology or whether a possible deradicalization process has progressed. Anna Mair, the woman's defense attorney, does not accept the further detention. "This is nothing other than preventive detention," Mair said in a conversation with the APA on Tuesday afternoon. She therefore filed a complaint against the detention order. The decision on whether the grounds for detention assumed by the regional court still exist now lies with the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Vienna.

Risk of Offense for Defense Attorney "Hypothesis"

The alleged risk of offense attributed to her client is a "hypothesis," Mair stated. There are no indications in the file of any remaining radicalization. The court has not taken any steps on its own to clarify - for example, by involving an expert - whether Evelyn T. still poses a danger. Such a "potential possibility" is not sufficient to justify the continuation of pre-trial detention: "If you don't clearly state that she is still radical, you cannot keep her detained."

As Mair emphasized, Evelyn T. has already "docked" with the counseling center for extremism located at the nationwide network Open Youth Work (bOJA) and has completed initial appointments. In the event of a release from detention, there is a housing option, and support from the probation assistance association Neustart is guaranteed. Above all, Evelyn T. wants to be reunited with her son, who has been housed in a facility of the Vienna Child and Youth Welfare (MA 11) since March 1st. The MA 11 has taken over temporary custody.

Viennese Woman Joined IS as a Teenager

Evelyn T. joined IS as a teenager. She traveled to Syria and entered into a relationship with an IS supporter there. In May 2017, she gave birth to a boy. "But her eyes were soon opened. She quickly realized that she had made a mistake," her defense attorney emphasized to the APA. Evelyn T. therefore surrendered to the allied troops on November 1, 2017 - "voluntarily," as Mair stressed. Because the so-called IS caliphate only suffered the decisive defeat in Syria against a US-led international alliance in the spring of 2019.

While IS fighters retreated to the Badia desert between Syria and Iraq, Evelyn T. and her son were interned in the Al-Roj camp, where mainly women radicalized by IS were housed. "She was in the part of the camp where no radical women live," Mair assured. Evelyn T. was also eager to return to Austria with her child. Finally, in July 2024, consular protection was applied for at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which related to the repatriation of mother and son from the camp.

When the plane landed in Vienna-Schwechat on March 1st as part of a repatriation operation initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 26-year-old allowed herself to be arrested without resistance at the airport. There was an active arrest warrant against her from the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office.

(APA/Red)

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