Defendants deny all charges in Austrian Islamist terror case

Cultures clashed at Vienna’s provincial court on Monday, as judges heard Austria’s first-ever case of alleged Islamist terrorism and banned one defendant for refusing to remove her burka. Two defendants, Mohamed M. and Mona S., aged 22 and 21, face charges of membership in a terrorist organization, having allegedly planned bomb attacks in Austria during the upcoming European football tournament, on European politicians and producing an Islamist threat video distributed on the internet. Prosecutors accused Mohamed M. of membership of «al-Qaeda, or respectively other internationally active Islamist terrorist networks», spreading their terrorist ideology and goals in the German-speaking world. This posed a «serious danger which needed to be countered,» prosecutor Michael Klackl said. Mona S., who is married to her partner according to Muslim law, was accused of assisting him by rendering translation services. The couple, both second-generation migrants of a Middle Eastern background, pleaded not guilty to the charges. If found guilty they face lengthy prison sentences. Mohamed M. told the court he had exaggerated his extremist credentials with his peers of the Global Islam Media Front, an internet platform, in order to gain their confidence.

But he made clear his political viewpoints, saying he was uncomfortable living in Austria under democratic laws.

See full-text article here (Some news sites may require registration)