On Tuesday, a Vienna court will hear evidence from six individuals who are charged with aiding the terrorists who committed the country’s first fatal Islamist assault.
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Kujtim Fejzulai, a convicted supporter of the Islamic State, went on a shooting spree on November 2, 2020, in the heart of Vienna, leaving four people dead and 23 more wounded before being fatally shot by police.
He was allegedly assisted by the individuals who were on trial prior to the assault.
The Offenders
The Austrian government, particularly its intelligence service, was accused of failing to keep an eye on the country’s Islamist movement after the EU member’s bloodiest massacre in decades.
The six accused, all males between the ages of 21 and 32, were not directly engaged in the fatal attack, according to the federal prosecutors’ charge sheet, which AFP was able to view
Two other people, ages 22 and 23, were found not guilty of murder conspiracy but found guilty of lesser terrorism offenses.
The 20-year-old assailant, who was dual-nationality Austrian and Macedonian, had been radicalized in Austria and had served 18 months in prison for attempting to join the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS), which claimed responsibility for the killings.
However, they are thought to have actively assisted Fejzulai in getting ready for the shooting.
The Terror Assistants
The four individuals convicted in Vienna were previously named:
- Heydayatollah Z, 28, whose DNA was discovered on the murder weapon, a Kalashnikov, and who spent many weeks residing in the murderer’s apartment
- 24-year-old Burak K visited the murderer hours before the attack.
- Adam M. acknowledged giving the murderer a pistol in exchange for €500 but denied knowing how he intended to use it.
- Fejzulai was in custody with Ishaq F, 22, who knew he had fantasized about attacking someone.
Due to their joint involvement with the extreme Islamist movement and the terrorist organization IS Islamic State, the six individuals — four Austrians, a Chechen, and a Kosovar — are accused of allowing or otherwise facilitating the commission of the crimes.
The allegations against the defendants range from involvement in terrorist activities connected to murder to membership in a terrorist organization.
In the period leading up to the trial, all but one of the defendants were detained on remand.
Make Sure Justice Is Served
Verdicts are not anticipated until February, according to the Vienna State Criminal Court.
In an interview with AFP before the start of the trial, attorney Mathias Burger representing the family of Nedzip Vrenezi, 21, who was shot dead first by Fejzulai, claimed that the family “still suffers to this day” from what happened to their son.
Although the victim’s family had received compensation from the Austrian government, Burger claimed that his client’s main concern was “ensuring justice was done.”
Prosecutors claim that some of the defendants assisted the gunman, Fejzulai, an Austrian citizen whose parents are from North Macedonia, in obtaining the guns and ammunition required for the assault. Other defendants reportedly assisted with logistics or encouraged Fejzulai.
Before the trial began, Adam Makhaev, a 32-year-old Chechen accused of supplying guns to Fejzulai, was expected to enter a not-guilty plea, according to Astrid Wagner, her attorney.
Although Makhaev admitted to transporting illegal firearms, she said she was unaware of their intended purpose.
Fejzulai fired on bystanders with a Kalashnikov while on the rampage in the heart of Vienna.
Before being detained in Turkey and extradited to Austria in 2019, Fejzulai had been found guilty and given a 22-month jail term for attempting to join the Islamic State organisation in Syria.
Following the incident, Austria passed a harshly criticized anti-terror law that permits heightened monitoring last year.
