Austria: acquittals in a lawsuit against "identities"

Representatives of the "Identity Movement" were acquitted in Austria of charges of sedition and formation of a criminal organization. Two accused were found guilty of material and bodily injury.

The 17 defendants were all acquitted in central charges at the trial of the leading right-wing representatives of the "Identity Movement Austria" (IBÖ). The Graz Regional Court refused a conviction for incitement as well as the formation of a criminal organization. Two defendants, however, were fined for bodily injury, coercion and property damage.

Both charges were unfounded, the court added. "If a grbadroots organization carries out a legal activity, it is not a criminal organization, even if it results in criminal offenses."

Action against "failed policy"

16 men and a woman aged 22 to 35 Years have been accused of spreading a xenophobic ideology. The defender had however stated that the criticism was "never directed against the refugees". "There is a parallel society with us, and there are no guilty identities, but a failed policy for 20, 30 years."

Hate speech is "undisputed", the meaning content, however, ambiguous, judged the judges. Specifically, identities have stormed, among other things, a lecture at the University of Klagenfurt, which should be announced for the integration of foreigners. According to the court, one of the accused had hit the rector in the stomach

. The action "showed the dangers of political and radical Islam, and these were given in the autumn of 2016," according to the verdict. The slogan of the IBÖ "Integration is a lie" is "not against integration, but against a policy that has failed". This opinion can be shared, "but you do not have to," said the judge. Since the hate speech has disappeared, "the subject of the criminal union is ticked off". The material damage was not enough for that. The verdict is not yet final

In Germany, the constitutional protection observed

The prosecution had justified their indictment by the fact that the representatives of IBÖ since its founding in 2012 had tried to spread a xenophobic ideology equating Islam with Islamist terror, Most of the now-accused members were already involved in founding the badociation. "IBÖ representatives see European cultural identity threatened by multiculturalism, liberalism and Islamization," said the prosecutor at the time.

Identities are seen as a youth movement animated by the love of their homeland. According to its own data, the IBÖ has about 300 active members. In Germany, the "Identity Movement" (IB) is controlled by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.