The five alleged members of a now no longer active, transnational right-wing extremist network are said to have violated the National Socialist Prohibition Act and prepared high treason. A “European Action” formed by old Holocaust deniers wanted to rebuild the “Third Reich”, it said in their current editions. The indictment is not yet effective. If it comes to that, the five men have to answer before a jury. There is a risk of up to 20 years in prison.
Tried to build a combat-ready group
According to “profil”, it concerns an unemployed 52-year-old former postman from Vienna, a 70-year-old engineer with Hungarian roots living in Salzburg, a 66-year-old IT specialist from Vienna, a 29-year-old Tyrolean office clerk without regular employment and a 58-year-old operator of a horse stable from Lower Austria.
After 2010 – with some fellow campaigners, two of whom have since died – tried to set up a neo-Nazi group in Austria ready to fight, as part of the international neo-Nazi network “European Action”, or “EA” for short. The accused deny the prosecution’s allegations, the presumption of innocence applies.
Paramilitary exercises, secret meetings
The investigations led to Germany, Hungary and Switzerland. In 2010, at the invitation of the Swiss Bernhard Schaub, around 20 “notorious Holocaust deniers” (Standard) decided to found the “EA”. The country manager for Austria was Hans Berger, who lives in Switzerland and has since died.
According to the investigation, there are alleged links to acts of violence, a police murder near Győr and a “rampage” in Vorarlberg, in which two people were killed in 2016. Reports from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism (BVT) – which monitored EA activities – show, according to “Standard”, paramilitary exercises in Hungary and secret meetings in Austria. In 2016 there was a large-scale raid and Berger was taken into custody.
Active until these days
After the wave of state repression, the group disbanded in 2017. However, some EA supporters known to the authorities remained active, according to “Standard”, among other things, some organized demonstrations against the Corona measures.
The “EA” case has nothing to do with the securing of large quantities of weapons that were announced at a press conference on Saturday, which were intended for a right-wing German militia.
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