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TERRORISM

Teen ‘brides’ released by judge after Syria bid

According to a report from Reuters, two teenage girls from Chechnya and Bosnia who are permanent residents of Austria were released by a judge, after being arrested by Austrian authorities for attempting to travel to Syria to marry Isis jihadists.

Published: 13 January 2015 22:42 CET
Teen 'brides' released by judge after Syria bid
Isis fighters in Syria. Photo: APA

The girls, aged 16 and 17, were intercepted by Romanian authorities en route to Syria, after they were reported missing in Austria by one of their mothers.

When police were investigating their disappearance, they found the mobile phone of the 16-year-old Chechen girl, which showed she had been in contact with Islamist fighters from Isis, and had arranged to marry a jihadist upon arrival.

Prosecutors wanted the girls placed into custody while they investigated whether the girls could be considered to be members of a terrorist organization, but the judge in Salzburg ruled that they had committed no crime, and ordered them to be released.

"In her opinion the girls' behaviour is not criminal, not yet, because they were stopped in Romania and did not really get to join a terrorist organization," said a spokeswoman from the Salzburg court.  No travel restrictions were imposed on the girls. Prosecutors have 14 days to appeal against the decision while they continue their investigations.

Federal Minister for Women and Civil Service Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek said that she was "very sorry" that the two girls were willing to join the jihadists, and that she would check to see how the two got in touch and whether school checks for radicalization had identified the girls as vulnerable. 

TERRORISM

What is the risk of new terror attacks in Austria?

Following the March 22nd attack in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall that left over 140 dead, European governments are evaluating the threat of terror attacks. Is Austria a target for fresh terrorist attacks?

Published: 28 March 2024 12:32 CET
What is the risk of new terror attacks in Austria?

With responsibility for the Moscow attack being taken by the Islamist terror organisation ISIS-K, national intelligence services are reevaluating the threat posed to targets within their borders. 

‘No concrete threat’

Austrian officials have been quick to give their appraisal of the situation. 

“We currently have the Islamist scene under control,” stressed Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of the Directorate of State Security & Intelligence (DSN) – the governmental agency responsible for combatting internal threats – in an interview with the Ö1 Morgenjournal radio programme on Tuesday. 

He continued: “The terrorist attacks in Moscow, for example, definitely increase the risk. But at the moment, we do not see any concrete threat of an attack in Austria,”

Other experts and officials have warned that while there are no concrete threats, Austrians should not be complacent. 

‘Situation is still valid’ 

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced tighter security at church festivals during the Easter period, in the days after the attack, and stressed that the high terror alert level introduced after the October 7 Hamas attacks was still in place. 

“This increased risk situation is still valid,” noted Karner.

READ MORE: What does Austria’s raised terror alert mean for the public?

Meanwhile, terror researcher Peter Neumann of King’s College London told ORF’s ‘ZiB 2’ news broadcast on Monday that Austria remains a potential target due to its Central Asian migrant population. 

Neumann noted that countries at most risk are those “in which Tajik and Central Asian diasporas exist and where ISIS-K finds it relatively easy to identify and recruit people”. 

He continued, identifying both Austria and Germany as “countries in which the ISPK is particularly active and which are particularly at risk from terrorist attacks”.

New threats

Austria has not been spared from attacks from homegrown terrorists.

On November 2nd 2020, amid Coronavirus lockdowns, Austrian-born Kujtim Fejzulai shot and killed four, injuring twenty-three others during a shooting spree across Vienna. He was ultimately shot dead by police. 

Fejzulai was already under surveillance by federal authorities for his beliefs and had been released from prison on parole less than a year before. 

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