2023-12-29 11:47:09
After the arrest of three terror suspects in a refugee accommodation in Vienna-Ottakring shortly before Christmas, who are being investigated for alleged plans to attack St. Stephen’s Cathedral, there is a “latently increased risk situation”. However, the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN) has “currently no evidence of a concrete threat to New Year’s Eve events,” emphasized DSN deputy director Michael Lohnegger.
The Interior Ministry invited people to a press conference on Friday to present the police measures that are intended to guarantee a safe New Year for the population. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) spoke of a “particularly challenging day”. On New Year’s Eve, the executive branch will do “everything humanly possible so that the people of this country can have a good start to the new year and welcome the new year happily,” said Karner.
Terror alert level 4 has been in force in this country since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th. The associated increased protective measures – both visible and hidden – remain in place – “for the entire federal territory,” as the Interior Minister emphasized. Special and operational units of the executive branch will be present beyond the turn of the year, and technical aids such as drones will also be used as additional security measures. Karner emphasized that operational teams have been formed in the individual federal states: “Rapid intervention teams are available in the states to ensure the safety of major events.”
The daily newspaper “Heute” had previously made public details regarding the three imprisoned terror suspects – including their origins and their connections. The three are now in custody because the Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters sees a risk of crime being committed in view of the New Year’s Eve celebrations. In its pre-trial detention order, the regional court assumes that the accused “were released and might implement their crime plan (due to the major event ‘New Year’s Eve’ on December 31st, which cannot be changed in time) with the help of perpetrators, some of whom are currently unknown.” The court also sees a risk of obscurity. The suspects might “attempt to dispose of or destroy evidence, as has already happened with many of the contents of the cell phones since December 20, 2023, or warn other accomplices who are still being investigated or arrange to meet them,” the APA says in the document available to it Pretrial detention order held.
The three accused – according to “Heute”, a 28-year-old native of Tajik, his wife, who is one year younger than him, and a 47-year-old man with Chechen roots – are said to belong to a cross-country radical Islamist terror network that is planning attacks on Cologne Cathedral and St. Stephen’s Cathedral be attributed. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating the trio for terrorist association (§278b StGB) in connection with terrorist offenses (§278c StGB). During a house search, data carriers – apparently no fewer than 14 cell phones – were seized from the three suspected Islamists who deny the allegations once morest them, which are now being evaluated. The aim was to show whether there was an actual connection to the terrorist group “Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISPK)”, which had been speculated regarding in media reports.
According to “Today”, a “conspiratorial meeting” is said to have taken place in the refugee accommodation on December 8, 2023. A 30-year-old Tajik, who had traveled from Germany, was also said to have taken part in this meeting and was said to have filmed St. Stephen’s Cathedral “in a manner that is untypical for tourists”, checked the surveillance cameras and checked the walls. The 30-year-old, who had been known to the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution for a long time and was therefore under surveillance, is said to have ties to IS.
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