"Not a terrorist"

22-year-old unintentionally supported IS fighters

The 22-year-old does not want to talk about her religion in detail in court.

(Bild: Zwefo/Krone KREATIV)

They could not be more different: Two young women give insights into their experiences with the Muslim faith in court - one as a defendant accused of financing terrorism who merely wanted to help women and children in refugee camps. The other as a divorced 19-year-old who has completely turned her back on Islam.

A young woman - she is eloquent, runs her own online store - has to take a seat in the Vienna Landl. She is said to have donated a total of 660 euros to associations to buy the freedom of captured IS fighters in Syria. Not consciously, she swears before the judge. The 22-year-old only wanted to provide women and children in refugee camps with food. She did not know what actually happened with the money in the end.

"She is not a terrorist"
"She is not a terrorist. She didn't support terrorists financially either. She is of Shia faith. That is the only link that can be made to the world described in the indictment." She certainly does not sympathize with IS. And a Muslim faith, such as Shiism, cannot be punishable under any circumstances. "The only thing the public prosecutor's office has pulled out of its hat that incriminates my client is a witness."

And she has also been summoned to the terror trial against the 22-year-old. Wearing red lipstick, a striped summer dress and long loose hair, she enters the courtroom and could not be more different from the defendant. But that wasn't always the case: the 19-year-old converted to Islam in 2019. "I had the desire to belong somewhere. Until then, I was actually atheist. I was trying to find God."

Married at 17
She also met the accused, who promptly introduced the then 17-year-old to her brother-in-law. "She asked me if I wanted to get married. I said yes. Then she created a group chat where I was asked questions. I saw him maybe three times before the wedding." The marriage between the two only lasted eight months - "We weren't the best couple."

Probably also because her ex-husband was in custody for a while; the now 19-year-old and the 22-year-old no longer want to know why and whether he was convicted. However, the judge is interested in a completely different conviction: "Do you know why you were convicted?" he wants to know from the witness - "Because I donated to associations that supported IS." And she would have known that at the time.

No intent for IS donations
This is one of the reasons why the 19-year-old turned away from Islam completely. In contrast to the accused 22-year-old, who practices her religion in a conservative form. But - and her former sister-in-law is certain of this: "She always said that IS was bad and that I should stay away from it." And that is what the senate of lay assessors believes: The young woman is acquitted of the charges.