Plans for Attack on Vienna Pride: Three Young Men Charged

The St. Pölten public prosecutor's office has charged the three young men who came into the focus of the constitutional protection and were temporarily arrested in connection with alleged attack plans on the Vienna Rainbow Parade of the LGBTIQ+ community on June 17, 2023. Although an attack was not immediately imminent, the three young men, aged between 16 and 21, had "discussed attack plans" in a relevant Telegram group.

The 35-page indictment filed with the St. Pölten Regional Court - which is available to the APA - sketches the picture of three youths who were almost still children during the incriminated period. The youngest - a Viennese student - was 14 years old at the time. Nevertheless, the defendants are said to have been violent supporters of the radical Islamic terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS) or the "Islamic State - Khorasan Province" (ISKP) that emerged from it and exchanged ideas with like-minded people in the Telegram group "psychology1444".

19-Year-Old Allegedly Wanted AK-47 and Large Knife for Terror Attack

In addition to propaganda videos and calls for donations, attack plans were discussed in chats according to the indictment - a Ukrainian, for example, announced that he wanted to blow himself up as a suicide bomber. The 19-year-old defendant - an apprentice living in St. Pölten, like his two-year-older co-defendant brother an Austrian citizen - according to the indictment "envisaged acquiring an AK-47 assault rifle and a large knife in the Czech Republic for a terrorist attack and carrying out an attack on the LGBTQ Pride taking place in Vienna on June 17, 2023".

The now 19-year-old is said to have internalized IS ideology at least since March 2022 and expressed it on platforms like TikTok and Telegram or through his PlayStation profile, where he apparently glorified IS and spread its ideology. He and his older brother are said to have repeatedly encouraged the Ukrainian willing to commit a suicide attack in his intentions and urged him to carry out the act. Both also created pictures and videos in which they each posed with their right hand raised with an outstretched index finger. The so-called Tawhid gesture is misused by Islamist groups as a recognition sign.

Youngest Defendant Wanted to Go to IS-Occupied Territory at 14

The youngest of the three announced in a Threema chat between January 30 and February 2, 2023 - he was still 14 at the time - that he wanted to travel to an area occupied by IS or ISKP to support their fighters there. He also "specifically inquired about tips for building particularly destructive explosive devices for the purpose of committing a bomb attack and tips for aiming a weapon to commit an attack," according to the indictment against the now 16-year-old Austrian citizen. He is therefore also accused of instructing the commission of a terrorist offense (§ 278f StGB).

The boy is said to have subsequently obtained eight bomb-making instructions from the internet and engaged in detailed research on detonators and explosives. According to the prosecution, extensive documents he obtained and saved from the internet prove that his plans to travel to join IS or ISPK were not mere fantasies. At the time, the 14-year-old informed himself about tactical procedures in combat operations, methods for ambush operations, and "preparation and equipment recommendations for the novice Mujahideen," as one document, which was secured during the investigations, was titled.

Alleged attack plans only became public after the Rainbow Parade

The alleged attack plans on the Vienna Pride 2023 only became known the day after the Rainbow Parade, when the Directorate for State Protection and Intelligence (DSN) informed the public in a hastily convened press conference that an attack had been thwarted and house searches had been conducted on the three accused. The DSN was alerted to the three by a foreign partner service that had knowledge of the contents of the Telegram chats. However, the boys were not in custody for long - they were released a few days after their arrests due to a lack of urgent suspicion.

Defense attorney: "Prevented attack not subject of the indictment"

"The starting point of the entire investigation - the allegedly prevented attack on the Pride - is not the subject of the indictment. Even the DSN could not substantiate this suspicion in their investigations," noted Andreas Schweitzer, the defense attorney for the youngest defendant, on Wednesday afternoon to the APA. Thus, there is no evidence of concrete terror plans. In this respect, he is "surprised," especially since the alleged attack plan was "the reason for the large-scale police operation," said Schweitzer. The Vienna lawyer also emphasized that his client did not know the St. Pölten brothers and therefore did not form a criminal or terrorist association with them.

Schweitzer will not contest the indictment, against which, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO), an appeal can be lodged with the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Vienna within 14 days of delivery. If the legal representation of the two co-defendants also refrains from an appeal, the indictment would be final. The main trial could then possibly take place in the spring, at the latest in the summer, at the Regional Court St. Pölten.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.