Decision made

Steffl terror suspect is finally deported

The terror suspect at his trial in the Federal Administrative Court.(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

After the second hours-long hearing within a few weeks, it is clear after the weekend: the 29-year-old Tajik, who is said to have planned a terrorist attack on St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna and Cologne Cathedral with his wife and other accomplices around Christmas time, will finally be deported!

The Federal Administrative Court has dismissed the appeal against the decision of the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum to deport the suspected IS man. However, instead of the lifelong entry ban originally planned, this was reduced to ten years. 

I am surprised that it has now happened so quickly. They obviously wanted to get rid of him quickly.

Andreas Schweitzer vertritt den Tadschiken.

Bild: zVg

Masses of IS material on his cell phone 
The court decision is more than 50 pages long. Mr. Rat did not believe the man's claims that he belonged to the political "Group 24" in his old home country, whose members are being persecuted by the government in Tajikistan. "The evaluation did not reveal any evidence of 'Group 24'," the statement said. Rather, there was suspicion of the commission of relevant Islamist-terrorist crimes.

During the analysis of the terror suspect's cell phone, a total of 98 motifs with relevant IS symbols and images, videos with slaughter scenes and Islamist hate sermons calling for the destruction of all infidels were seized.

Suspected accomplices already repatriated
If the man is deported to Tajikistan in the near future, all suspects in connection with the alleged planned attack on St. Stephen's Cathedral will have been taken out of the country. The co-suspect living in Germany has long since been returned to his former home country, and the wife of the suspected IS fanatic, a Turkish woman, has already been deported despite the ongoing investigation by the Vienna public prosecutor's office.

Fourth suspect committed suicide
She was also banned from entering the country for four years. The woman is now back in Turkey, where the couple's three young children also live with their grandparents. A fourth suspect committed suicide in the cell. 

Lawyer Andreas Schweitzer fought the deportation of his client: "I'm surprised that it happened so quickly," he says, "they obviously wanted to get rid of him quickly."