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The Interior Minister admits that “something went wrong” in communication with Slovakia, where the perpetrator wanted to buy ammunition and made serious accusations against his predecessor, Herbert Kickl.
The investigation into the terrorist attack in Vienna is still in full swing, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. 14 people were arrested. Nehammer also revealed the first details about these people: The detainees are between 18 and 28 years old, all have a migration background and some are non-Austrian citizens. They are being investigated for their involvement in a terrorist organization. Viennese Police Chief Gerhard Pürstl added that some had dual citizenship and were called Bangladesh, Macedonia, Turkey and the Russian Federation.
The interior minister said the theory of a single offender was confirmed after evaluating the more than 20,000 videos sent to the police. The increase in the security level for Vienna is maintained, said from the Interior Ministry.
Pürstl described that videos of Wiener Linien were also seen. Consequently, the author did not arrive at the crime scene by public transport. Police had to evaluate more than a terabyte of data from the attack in central Vienna on Monday night. A separate upload was set up for streaming the videos.
Kickl said the BVT “is badly damaged, not to mention destroyed.”
Nehammer also admitted that the perpetrator wanted to buy ammunition in Slovakia in the summer and that the Slovak secret service had informed BVT about the killer. However, in the subsequent steps between Austria and Slovakia, “obviously something went wrong in communication,” he said. Nehammer wants to propose an independent commission of inquiry. He brought serious accusations against his predecessor Herbert Kickl (FPÖ): The BVT was “badly damaged, not to say destroyed” by him.
The attacker also wanted to travel to Afghanistan.
Franz Ruf, Director General of Public Security, announced more details about the perpetrator: on August 22, 2018, he wanted to travel to Afghanistan, but did not have a visa. On September 1, he traveled to Turkey and wanted to go to Syria. He was detained in Turkey until January 9 and returned to Austria on January 10, where he was arrested and sentenced. As is well known, after two-thirds of his incarceration, he was released on probation in December 2019 instead of this July.
In the morning, Nehammer briefed the federal government on the current status of the investigation at a virtual meeting of the Council of Ministers. At the meeting, the government formally compensated for the decision to deploy assistance from the Armed Forces in protecting property, which has been in operation since Monday night.
The Derad club rejects the accusations
Four people were killed in the Islamist terrorist act perpetrated by an IS sympathizer in Vienna on Monday night, and 22 were treated in hospitals in the federal capital. The 20-year-old murdered perpetrator has roots in North Macedonia and had a relevant criminal record.
The Derad association, which dealt with the Vienna attacker, has rejected criticism from Nehammer and Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) about the early release on parole. It is wrong that the perpetrator was released early because justice and prevention had failed. The association called for better cooperation rather than blaming. Because the courts and Derad would not have the options that constitutional protection has.
Neither parole, nor Derad, nor a court could monitor people or tap phones, as the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution could. The BVT is in contact with the judiciary through contact officials. Previously, until 2018, there was an exchange between Derad and the BVT prevention department. In case of imminent danger, LVT and BVT have always been contacted and thus have been able to prevent past crimes, the association notes.
Never portrayed as deradicalized
And he states about the perpetrator: Even if he had been fully detained, he would have been free since July, and that would have made the “terrible act of blood” possible now. He was not released early because he was considered to be de-radicalized, but: “On the contrary, the court rejected the possible half sentence (that is, freedom after half the prison, note) for general preventive measures,” he says Derad.
Had he served his entire prison sentence, he would have had to be released without parole. However, in his release order, the court testified to the need for three-year probation conditions: parole assistance and a de-radicalization program. And his supervisor at Derad never presented him as deradicalized.
(Red./APA)
