Indictment ready

Rocker wanted to bring counterfeit money to the people

There are currently regular trials against Bandidos in the Innviertel region

(Bild: dpa/Marius Becker (Symbolbild))

Once again, a 59-year-old "bandido" goes on trial in Ried im Innkreis. He has already been sentenced to two years in prison for drug dealing, but now he is facing even more serious trouble as he is being charged with National Socialist reactivation. He is also accused of possessing counterfeit money, but it is his Nazi sympathies that determine his sentence.

Following the extensive house searches in the rocker scene in June 2023, the public prosecutor's office is once again bringing charges against the 59-year-old from Innviertel. He has already been convicted of drug trafficking and is now on trial for National Socialist reactivation and possession of counterfeit or falsified money.

"Collection" for Nazi museum
ince 2015, the man is alleged to have used his cell phone to distribute images and videos via a messenger service "that glorify National Socialism and its aims, present it as contemporary and trivialize its atrocities", as stated in a press release from the public prosecutor's office in Ried im Innkreis. He had also collected and possessed a large number of National Socialist devotional objects and wanted to display them in a "National Socialist museum in Zwettl in Lower Austria". He also has to answer for possession of counterfeit euro banknotes - it is suspected that he also wanted to use these as "genuine" banknotes for payment transactions.

In June 2023, numerous house searches were carried out in Upper and Lower Austria following months of cross-provincial investigations into the far-right rocker scene. The international motorcycle club "Bandidos" was the main focus of the investigators.

Hundreds of weapons stored with parents
Large quantities of weapons, National Socialist devotional objects, war material and drugs were found. The 59-year-old was also among those arrested - illegal narcotics and hundreds of weapons were found at his parents' property and at his home in the Innviertel region, in addition to devotional objects. He has already been sentenced to two years in prison under the Narcotics Act and is currently being held in Ried im Innkreis prison. Investigations into the seized weapons and the associated violations of the Weapons Act are still ongoing.

Up to 10 years imprisonment
The man from Innviertel will have to answer to the current charges before a jury. He faces up to ten years in prison.