Trial over alleged attack plots against Vienna Pride continues in St. Pölten

The St. Pölten Public Prosecutor's Office explicitly pointed out on Tuesday that an imminent attack is not the subject of the indictment. A spokesperson said: "Das wird ihnen auch nicht zur Last gelegt, das ist nicht der Anklagegegenstand." The possible attack on Pride 2023 that had come into media focus had, according to the prosecutor's office, "nicht unmittelbar" been imminent.

What exactly does the indictment allege?

The alleged attack plans on Vienna Pride 2023 only became known the day after the rainbow parade. The domestic intelligence service DSN had become aware of the trio through a foreign partner service that had obtained knowledge of the contents of the Telegram chats. The DSN informed the public at a hastily convened press conference, saying it had foiled an attack and had conducted house searches at the three suspects' homes. The youths were released again a few days after their arrests due to a lack of urgent suspicion.

The young suspects are, according to the assessment of the prosecutor's office, followers of ISIS — more precisely, of the group that emerged from it, "Islamic State – Khorasan Province" (ISKP). The 20-year-old is said to have internalized ISIS ideology at least since March 2022 and to have publicly expressed it on platforms such as TikTok and Telegram or via his PlayStation profile, where he glorified ISIS and spread its ideology. The 23-year-old propagated in a chat the "stabbing" and hunting of infidels.

Role of the Brothers and Their Defense

In chat messages, both brothers are also alleged to have circulated recordings of themselves posing with their right hands raised and index fingers extended. The so-called Tawhid gesture is misused by Islamist groups as a marker of identification. The defense of the first and second defendants, however, contested the respective clients' participation in the Telegram group.

The non-confessing 20-year-old first defendant and his older brother have remained silent about the charges so far. The proceedings concern exclusively the membership in the terrorist organization and the criminal organization, not a specific attack. The verdict could still be handed down on Tuesday.

The background to the investigations is a dynamic of radicalization in online networks that has preoccupied Austrian security authorities for years. The group "psychology1444" is regarded as a meeting place for violence-prone and heavily radicalized like-minded individuals from abroad. As the prosecutor's office emphasizes, the chat contents charged here are criminally relevant, but a real attack on Pride is the subject of separate proceedings.