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Austria’s draft anti-terror law provokes sharp criticism

The Austrian justice ministry said Wednesday it would take into account fierce criticisms levelled by judges and the opposition at proposals for an anti-terror law formulated following a deadly jihadist terror attack.

Published: 3 February 2021 17:32 CET
Austria's draft anti-terror law provokes sharp criticism
Police in Vienna after the 2020 Austrian terror attack. Photo: ALEX HALADA / AFP

In the days after the convicted sympathiser of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group killed four people in central Vienna in November, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the centre-right People's Party (OeVP) promised tough new anti-terror legislation.

The official review period for the draft legislation ended on Tuesday.

Its central articles would allow for released terror offenders to be monitored “electronically”, which is not further defined. It would also create an offence of “religious extremism,” which experts say is redundant due to existing criminal law.

“The way it is now, there'd need to be serious revisions,” the president of the Austrian Judges' Association, Sabine Matejka, told AFP Wednesday.

“This was drafted in an extreme rush – it would usually take several months of consultation and discussions with experts” before a draft was even put forward, Matejka said.

Justice ministry spokesperson Julian Ausserhofer told AFP that the criticisms were “being examined” before the draft is brought to parliament.

Previous elements of the draft, such as a proposal to introduce “preventive detention” were dropped after concerns they would be illegal and raised the ire of the Green party, the OeVP's junior coalition partner.

“This (law) is a manoeuvre to distract from systemic failures within the interior ministry,” Selma Yildirim, the justice spokesperson for the opposition Social Democrats (SPOe), told AFP.

ANALYSIS: Vienna terror attack was 'only a matter of time' 

The interior ministry was strongly criticised in the wake of the November attack for failing to monitor or detain the gunman, despite authorities being alerted that he had been in contact with Islamist radicals from neighbouring countries and had attempted to buy ammunition in Slovakia.

Proposed reforms of the law regulating Islamic religious activity, in particular the proposal for a mandatory register of all imams, have been criticised by representatives of the Muslim community and by church leaders.

The November gunman was shot dead by police as he carried out his attack in a popular nightlife area of Vienna, on the eve of the country going into a partial coronavirus lockdown.

The attacker was just one of about 150 individuals who have returned to Austria after attempting to or succeeding in joining the Islamic State in Syria or Iraq, making the small nation of fewer than 9 million home to one of the largest per capita rates of IS fighters in Europe. 

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CRIME

When are police officers in Austria allowed to use their weapons?

Recent police operations have ended up in the shooting - and death- of suspects. What are the rules and guidelines Austrian police officers have to follow?

Published: 21 June 2024 14:30 CEST
When are police officers in Austria allowed to use their weapons?

Austrian police officers, like their counterparts in many countries, are equipped with firearms as part of their law enforcement duties. However, the use of these weapons is strictly regulated by law, with clear guidelines and limitations in place to ensure public safety and accountability. 

Recent incidents have brought renewed attention to these regulations, sparking debate and discussion about when and how police officers are authorised to use force, including the use of firearms. Despite the recent events – with two deaths after suspects were shot by the police within two weeks, the number of such incidents in Austria is not high.

READ ALSO: What rules does Austria have on gun ownership?

In 2022, weapons were used 654 times by officers in 213 different incidents. In many incidents different police used their firearms and often more than once.

In those incidents some 137 people were left slightly injured, four were seriously injured, and no one was killed, according to a Der Standard report.

Provisional figures for 2023 show 328 uses of weapons in 202 different incidents. Sixty-five people were slightly injured, three were seriously injured, and two people were shot dead.

Looking back over a longer period of time, in the past 16 years, 18 people have died as a result of police use of firearms.

What are the rules?

The use of service weapons in Austria is regulated by the Weapons Use Act (Waffengebrauchsgesetz) of 1969, which states that law enforcement agencies such as police officers and municipal police officers may use weapons in cases of “just self-defence”, the report said.

For example, to overcome resistance to an official act, to make an arrest or to prevent the escape of an arrested person. Even then, the use of weapons is only permitted by law “if harmless or less dangerous measures”, including the threat of using weapons, pursuing a fleeing person, the use of physical force or milder means such as handcuffs, “appear unsuitable or have proven to be ineffective.” 

READ ALSO: Is Vienna a safe city to visit?

Only the least dangerous weapon may be used if various weapons are available – service weapons also include tear gas or batons. The purpose of using weapons against people may only be to “render the target incapable of attacking, resisting or fleeing”.

According to the Weapons Use Act, a service weapon is permitted in defence of a person to suppress a riot or insurrection, as well as in some instances of arrest or to prevent an escape. And to arrest or prevent the escape of “an insane person who is generally dangerous to the safety of the person or property”.

In any case, whenever the police fire their weapons, the incidents are the subject of internal investigations by the Investigation and Complaints Office for Allegations of Abuse at the Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAK-EBM). The authority will decide whether the case was an instance of self-defence and whether the use of a pistol was justified.

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