Terror investigations

Unusual: false information forces DSN to disclose

According to DSN, a direct link to Hasan E. could only be established after more than 41 cell phones were seized from the main suspect in the planned attack on the Swift concert in Vienna.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock adobe und zVg)

It is highly unusual for the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN) to address the public directly in ongoing investigations. However, the case surrounding the foiled terrorist attack in Vienna last summer seems to have forced the authority to do so. The reason: spreading false information that could damage the reputation of the DSN ...

At the center of the DSN investigation is the planned, Islamist-motivated attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last August. According to the authorities, there were links between the main suspect Beran A. and 20-year-old Hasan E., who is said to have carried out an attack in Saudi Arabia last March. Hasan E., from Lower Austria, has been living in Saudi custody since then.

Investigation initiated immediately
The Austrian authorities are said to have been informed by Saudi Arabia only eleven days after his arrest. As a result, the State Office for State Protection and Counter-Extremism (NÖ) immediately launched an investigation, questioned witnesses and searched the suspect's apartment in Austria. The aim was to find evidence of extremist ideas.

Notebook not used for a long time
Several media reports criticized the DSN's handling of electronic evidence, among other things. The focus was on a notebook belonging to Hasan E., which is located in Austria. According to DSN, however, there were several witness statements according to which this notebook had not been used by him for some time. The competent public prosecutor's office therefore decided not to issue a seizure order - which meant that DSN could not confiscate it.

No access to Hasan E.'s cell phone
At the same time, the suspect's cell phone was already in the hands of Saudi security authorities. Austria had neither access to the device nor to the stored data. Messenger histories could not be viewed due to legal restrictions.

The DSN therefore feels compelled to defend itself in a statement - a rare move for an authority that normally operates in secret. The reason: apparently there are deliberate attempts to misrepresent the investigative work, which could damage the credibility of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In particular, the claim that investigators deliberately omitted important data contradicts the actual processes.

No evidence of radicalization
The fact is that the investigation started immediately after the information about Hasan E., the Lower Austrian arrested in Saudi Arabia, was received. 21 witnesses, including family members, were questioned. Because there were no indications of radicalization, no further measures were ordered. "Without this order, the criminal investigation department was legally prohibited from taking further - independent - investigative measures," said DSN.

DSN

The Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN) is both a police state security authority and the civilian domestic intelligence service of the Republic of Austria.

The core task of the DSN is to protect the Republic and its citizens from all forms of extremism and terrorism, espionage and cyber attacks and the fight against illegal arms trafficking and terrorist, ideologically or religiously motivated crime.

It was only after the seizure of more than 41 cell phones from Beran A., the main suspect in the planned attack on the concert in Vienna, that a direct link to Hasan E. could be established. This ultimately led to the subsequent seizure of a notebook - but no communication data was found on it.

DSN concludes: "The investigations into this complex are being continued at full speed and in the best possible cooperation with the responsible public prosecutor's office." Nevertheless, the case clearly shows how sensitive the work of intelligence services is - and how quickly disinformation can be used to undermine their credibility.