SHARE
COPY LINK

IMMIGRATION

Seven found guilty in people smuggler trial

Seven asylum seekers have been found guilty of smuggling people from Asia into Europe, after a lengthy and controversial trial in Wiener Neustadt.

Seven found guilty in people smuggler trial
Photo: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH

The men – from Pakistan, Afghanistan and India – received suspended prison sentences of between seven and 28 months, the majority of which have already been served in custody. An eighth man was acquitted. 

There were accused of operating a criminal organization in which people from their home countries were smuggled into Europe.

Protesters had gathered outside the court with signs that read “escape is not a crime” and “smuggling saves lives”. The verdict provoked cries of “shame on you” and “there is no democracy” from the public gallery.

After going through the evidence, which included 4,000 wire tapped phone conversations, the prosecutor admitted that the men were not running a money-making business but that nevertheless they were still guilty of the crime.

The defence, Lennart Binder, said that the men “were not a criminal organisation, they shared a common destiny with the people they were smuggling”. He said that they helped other refugees in exchange for a little money, a place to sleep, or something to eat.

He argued that the trial was politically motivated as four of the defendants had camped out with 40 other asylum seekers in Vienna’s Votivkirche last year, protesting against Austria’s asylum laws.

They wanted the right to work permits while waiting for their asylum applications to be processed, as well as an end to deportations.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

FAR-RIGHT

Germany issues entry ban to Austrian far-right activist Sellner

Radical Austrian nationalist Martin Sellner has been banned from entering Germany, it emerged on Tuesday, days after he was deported from Switzerland.

Germany issues entry ban to Austrian far-right activist Sellner

Sellner, a leader of Austria’s white pride Identitarian Movement, posted a video of himself on X, formerly Twitter, reading out a letter he said was from the city of Potsdam.

A spokeswoman for the city authorities confirmed to AFP that an EU citizen had been served with a “ban on their freedom of movement in Germany”.

The person can no longer enter or stay in Germany “with immediate effect” and could be stopped by police or deported if they try to enter the country, the spokeswoman said, declining to name the individual for privacy reasons.

READ ALSO: Who is Austria’s far-right figurehead banned across Europe?

“We have to show that the state is not powerless and will use its legitimate means,” Mike Schubert, the mayor of Potsdam, said in a statement.

Sellner caused an uproar in Germany after allegedly discussing the Identitarian concept of “remigration” with members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) at a meeting in Potsdam in November.

Reports of the meeting sparked a huge wave of protests against the AfD, with tens of thousands of Germans attending demonstrations across the country.

READ ALSO:

Swiss police said Sunday they had prevented a hundred-strong far-right gathering due to be addressed by Sellner, adding that he had been arrested and deported.

The Saturday meeting had been organised by the far-right Junge Tat group, known for its anti-immigration and anti-Islamic views.

The group is also a proponent of the far-right white nationalist Great Replacement conspiracy theory espoused by Sellner’s Identitarian Movement.

SHOW COMMENTS