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Austria starts trial of 10 alleged extremists who planned to join IS

Xinhua, June 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

A high-security trial against 10 suspects alleged to have planned to join militant group Islamic State (IS) has begun at the Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters in Austria on Monday, Kronen Zeitung newspaper reported.

The Vienna-based suspects, consisting of nine Chechens and one Turkish national, were arrested in August 2014 as they were about to leave the country allegedly to join IS in Syria. They are charged with participating in a terrorist organization as per the Austrian criminal code.

Prosecutor Stefanie Schoen said in her opening address that should the suspects have reached Syria they would have not only taken part in fighting, but also supported IS logistically, financially, and helped in building infrastructure and provided other assistance.

The defense however disagreed, with nine defendants declaring themselves not guilty of the charges, claiming they had nothing to do with IS. Three suspects denied they had even intended to travel to Syria.

One defendant, a 22-year-old Chechen man, admitted to the charges, though his attorney Michael Schnarch claimed he wished to join IS as he had been promised a partner and fell victim to IS propaganda, and was otherwise "one of the most peaceful people I have known." Endit