"The eyes of evil"

Austria’s most dangerous prisoner dead in his cell

The terrorist is overpowered after an escape from Garsten prison - two years later he takes hostages in the harbor.

(Bild: REUTERS ÖSTERREICH/Rudolf Brandstätter/Andi Schiel)

He had the "eyes of evil" and never renounced terror: Tawfik Ben Ahmed Chaovali was responsible for the deaths of three people at Vienna-Schwechat Airport and was considered the most dangerous prisoner in Austria - now the terrorist is dead.

Tawfik Ben Ahmed Chaovali grew up in a refugee camp in Lebanon in the early 1960s and became a member of the Palestinian precursor organization PLO.

One of the most serious attacks on Austrian soil
When his father dies in an Israeli air raid, he joins the Abu Nidal terrorist group full of hatred. And carries out one of the most serious attacks on Austrian soil!

Hand grenades are thrown during the firefight in the departure hall. Three people are left dead.

(Bild: Kronen Zeitung)

(Bild: Kronen Zeitung)

(Bild: Markovsky Johannes)

Christmas time turned into a bloodbath
It is shortly after Christmas, December 27, 1985, when three attackers arrive at Vienna-Schwechat Airport with forged passports via Hungary. Their original goal of hijacking an Israeli El Al plane is thwarted at the flight counter by attentive police officers and security guards.

Sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987
Suddenly, hand grenades fly and a machine-gun firefight breaks out. Two Austrians - a then 26-year-old woman and a teacher (50) as well as an Israeli citizen - are killed. One terrorist dies in a hail of bullets during a chase, Chaovali and his accomplice are sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987. While the accomplice is released after 22 years and leaves for Jordan, the terrorist remains in prison for 38 years. This makes him the living record prisoner.

The assassins' machine guns are presented at the trial in Vienna's Landl district 37 years ago.

(Bild: Kronen Zeitung)

Breakout in 1995
Also because the ticking time bomb broke out of Garsten prison in May 1995 and two years later, together with two other Häfen brothers in Graz-Karlau, threatened two guards with a stabbing weapon and tied homemade bottle bombs with nitro thinner from the prison workshop around three female employees of the prison store as hostages. After an hours-long thriller, the elite Cobra force overpowers the trio.

"Converted" to IS
Chaovali did not renounce terror until the end, "converting" to the IS gang of murderers. If you look into his face, you see "the eyes of evil", according to fellow inmates and prison staff.

Chaovali dies in the high-security wing of the notorious Stein prison, also known as the "Rock" by inmates.

(Bild: picturedesk.com/HELMUT FOHRINGER / APA / picturedesk.com)

(Bild: Schiel Andreas/KRONEN ZEITUNG)

Now the country's most dangerous inmate, aged 64, is found lifeless in his cell in the high-security wing of Stein prison (Lower Austria). His death closes a bloody chapter in Austrian criminal history ...