No incitement to hatred

Provocation against Muslims ends in acquittal

This eight-metre-high wooden cross and the approximately 17-metre-long banner were erected on a construction site in Vöcklabruck in 2021.(Bild: zVg)

The action caused quite a stir: in 2021, five men erected a 17-metre-long banner on the construction site of a Bosniak-Austrian cultural center with the inscription "Hier entsteht: Islamism Center Upper Austria". The Higher Regional Court has now confirmed the acquittal in this case.

The incident from August 2021 is still occupying the judiciary almost three years later. On Wednesday, the Linz Higher Regional Court dismissed an appeal by the public prosecutor's office in Wels. This means that five men remain acquitted of the charge of incitement to hatred.

On the night of 21 to 22 August 2021, they had caused a stir at the construction site of the Bosniak-Austrian cultural and educational center in Vöcklabruck with an action that was subsequently heavily criticized by many.

Acquittal of incitement to hatred
The five men erected an eight-metre-high wooden cross on the construction site, flanked by a 17-metre-long banner with the inscription: "Hier entsteht: Islamism Center Upper Austria." They then had to stand trial on suspicion of incitement to hatred. The proceedings ended with an acquittal - and this has now been confirmed by the Linz Higher Regional Court.

"An incitement to hatred against the Muslim religious community is not yet apparent from the objective meaning of the banner", is how the Higher Regional Court justified its decision with regard to the banner.

"Evil form of right-wing extremism"
The action met with much criticism in 2021. "This is a vile form of right-wing extremism and should be strictly rejected," said Robert Eiter, spokesperson for the Upper Austrian Network Against Racism and Right-Wing Extremism. And the mayor of Vöcklabruck at the time, Elisabeth Kölblinger (ÖVP), told the "Krone" newspaper: "The whole thing makes me very sad, because it is reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan and is not an acceptable approach in a constitutional state."