After Threat Against Former Chancellor Nehammer: 17-Year-Old Sentenced

On August 17, 2024, the 17-year-old informed the then government leadership via Instagram in broken German that he would "come to behead/punish you and also the other chancellors (sic)," referring to the radical terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS). A suspended sentence was imposed for this threat and the dissemination of IS propaganda.

Verdict Against 17-Year-Old After Threat Against Nehammer Final

A jury imposed a six-month suspended sentence on the previously unblemished 17-year-old for dangerous threats, terrorist association, and criminal organization. Probation assistance was ordered. The youth was also required to undergo a deradicalization program at the Extremism Counseling Center (bOJE). He agreed to everything, and the prosecutor had no objections. The verdict is final. According to the indictment, the Chechen-born youth intended to instill fear and unrest in the then Chancellor when he wrote a message to Nehammer on his publicly accessible Instagram account. He declared that Nehammer was "already registered in the IS system, there is no turning back," and that the IS pledge of allegiance would help him succeed in "eliminating you, if not now, then another time. I will come to behead/punish you and also the other chancellors, if not me, then someone else."

17-Year-Old Defendant Acted "Completely Out of Anger"

"That was stupid of me. It was completely out of anger," admitted the defendant. He then told the court that the police had mistakenly searched for him with a photo publication in early August 2024, suspecting him of involvement in a brawl. He had nothing to do with it. Nevertheless, his photo from a Vienna public transport surveillance camera ended up in the newspaper. "They set up a search for me, even though I was just riding the escalator," the boy's indignation was still palpable in the courtroom. He reported that he was picked up by the police after work and taken for questioning: "That triggered the anger in me that led me to write this message and go in this direction."

Boy Wanted to Sound "As Brutal as Possible" in Threat Against Nehammer

"What does Nehammer have to do with it?" wondered the judge. "He has nothing to do with it," replied the defendant, "I was stupid. It was a dumb idea. I wasn't focused on what I was typing." He wanted to sound "as brutal as possible." "I didn't know anyone would even react to it," the 17-year-old stated, prompting the judge to remark that one couldn't be "that naive." When asked by the judge if he needed help and was willing to undergo deradicalization, the youth initially declined: "For now, I have myself under control." At his defense attorney's urging, he eventually agreed. Through his Instagram account, the youth had also spread radical Islamist and IS-glorifying content in the form of so-called stories. This included a "message to the Austrian government and all other infidels" that was put out into the world.

17-Year-Old Attracted to Violence Videos

The lawyer emphasized that his client was not attracted to IS for religious-ideological reasons, but by violence videos that had ended up in his timeline. After his temporary arrest, a wealth of IS propaganda material was found on the boy's phone, including execution videos and other atrocities of the terrorist militia. "The photo in the newspaper triggered a crack in him," explained the defense attorney. Out of frustration, he became receptive to IS propaganda and processed his anger with it. That is now over, the 17-year-old assured at the end of the trial. He now wants to complete his apprenticeship, is in a boarding school outside of Vienna, and no longer has time for social media.

(APA/Red)

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