Austria: Mosque found to be hub for jihad terrorist recruitment

Why didn’t the Vast Majority of Peaceful Muslims rise up and throw out the Islamic State recruiters, and remind the congregation that Islam is a religion of peace that has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism?

A trial against a group accused of radicalizing youths and young adults in a Graz mosque in order to recruit them as fighters for terrorist organizations began at the Vienna Criminal Court on Friday. Fourteen accused have to answer for their crimes on 19 days of trial, a verdict will not be handed down until October.

The accused, aged between 23 and 56 – mostly Bosnians and Austrians – were all active in the Furkan mosque in Graz and held various management positions in the association founded for this purpose, such as chairman, treasurer or secretary. In the course of their activities, they allegedly persuaded young people to go to Syria as IS fighters or prepared them for this. They are charged with membership of a terrorist organisation, membership of a criminal organisation, financing of terrorism and anti-state connections, which is why they have now been tried before a jury. The 400-page case from Graz was delegated to Vienna because Facebook postings were decisive. Thus, it is a media content offence and the Supreme Court decided that the Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters has jurisdiction. The defendants, who are all at large, pleaded not guilty.

The 51-year-old main defendant founded the Furkan mosque with three other defendants in 2008. According to the indictment, five of the accused decided that the mosque would become one of the locations and bases of terrorist organizations – from 2012 to the end of 2013, the terrorist organization “Jabhat al-Nusra” was supported, and from 2014, the “Islamic State.” According to the prosecutor, the aim was to establish a worldwide caliphate based on radical Islamist principles under the rule of the IS on the basis of Sharia law.

The five men are said to have organised the life of the association accordingly. With relevant talks, lectures and the sale of propaganda material, interested people were to be recruited. The first step, according to the prosecutor, was to distribute Qurans in order to recruit new members. Radical preachers were also invited to Graz, including the already convicted former “hate preacher” Mirsad O. He is to testify in the trial. According to the prosecution, the premises of the mosque were even made available for physical training in order to prepare for military training.

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