Lorenz K. sentenced

Emotional outburst by IS supporter Lorenz K.

Lorenz K. at the start of his trial at the end of April - closely guarded.

(Bild: Bissuti Kristian/Kristian Bissuti, Krone KREATIV)

Judgement day in the trial against Lorenz K. (25) - he seems to be incorrigible: For the second time, the convicted IS terrorist tried to incite a younger like-minded person to carry out suicide attacks. He has now been sentenced to many years in prison in the Vienna Provincial Court for attempting to commit murder.

The large jury courtroom in Vienna once again became a high-security zone on Wednesday - for the last day of the trial against the convicted terrorist Lorenz K. Seven years ago, he incited a 13-year-old German to commit a suicide attack, for which he received a nine-year sentence as a juvenile. K. has been in prison ever since.

One guilty verdict and two acquittals
And that will be the case for some time to come. The 25-year-old was once again convicted in the Vienna provincial court of attempted murder in one case. He was acquitted in two other cases. In addition - as at the trial in 2020 - the jury considered him to be a member of a terrorist organization or a criminal organization. Taking into account a conviction by the Graz provincial court for damage to property - he served nine months in prison - Lorenz K. was sentenced to an additional 16 years in prison.

Renewed determination to murder
However, this did not prevent him from further consolidating his radical religious values. Once again, he is said to have tried to incite like-minded people to carry out terrorist attacks. He used an illegal cell phone to operate out of various prisons.

IS was my world. For me, it was the liberator of all evil.

Lorenz K. (25) am ersten Verhandlungstag

On the very first day of the trial at the end of April, Lorenz K. admits: "IS was like an answer for me. It was the only thing in my life that I had ever learned. I knew my way around there. IS was my world. For me, it was the liberator of all evil. It was the necessary evil." However, the client of lawyer David Jodlbauer never assumed that someone would commit an attack at his behest.

Lawyer David Jodlbauer represents the convicted terrorist Lorenz K.

(Bild: Bissuti Kristian/Kristian Bissuti)

Defense lawyer Rudolf Mayer represents the second defendant (34)

(Bild: Zwefo)

And yet he had repeatedly established contact with much younger people and tried to recruit them, the prosecutor confronted him. K. then loses his cool. "What the ..., what a stupid thing you're saying!" the 25-year-old bursts out. The prison guards flinched.

Young German wanted to die as a martyr
A young German - one of the 25-year-old's chat partners - is questioned via video chat on the day of the verdict. In the summer of 2020, he is said to have tried to persuade the then 19-year-old to carry out a suicide attack. "Did you want to die as a martyr back then?" asks the presiding judge. - "Yes, it was back then. But I wouldn't have thought that he wanted to incite me," said the German. Whereupon he is confronted with chats that speak a different language ...

Also on trial is a 34-year-old who had served 16 years in prison for attempted murder, among other things - he was in prison with K. for a time. In prison, the actually devout Christian, defended by lawyer Rudolf Mayer, became radicalized. Together with the 25-year-old, he shared IS propaganda. He was not sentenced to six years in prison for this.