The Vienna public prosecutor’s office is now officially investigating an imam for incitement to hatred. After several Facebook posts, the man resigned in mid-February. A search was carried out last Monday, authorities spokeswoman Nina Bussek confirmed.
It was initially unclear on Wednesday what had been secured. The accompanying report is not yet available, it said. The imam of the Assalam Mosque at the Schöpfwerk in Vienna-Meidling was noted by law enforcement authorities as exhibiting anti-Semitism. “O Allah, defeat the Jews and support the Mujahideen who are fighting for Allah in Palestine,” he wrote on Facebook. Elsewhere it was even said that Jews were a ‘vile people’, ‘criminals’, ‘bloodthirsty people’ who understood only ‘the language of blood and murder’. The man’s Facebook profile can no longer be found.
Religious community: “Unacceptable”
The Islamic Religious Community (IGGÖ) described the statements as an “unacceptable response to the conflict in the Middle East” and imposed a ban on the imam’s activities. This exists independently of the criminal investigation, an IGGÖ spokeswoman said on Wednesday. However, the Muslim is still an ordinary member. Exclusion is only possible if there is a final conviction with a prison sentence of more than one year.
The Assalam Mosque is mainly visited by people with Egyptian roots. She has been part of the IGGÖ since 2016. No problematic content could be found in the sermons preached there. In addition to the man against whom the Public Prosecution Service is now investigating, two other imams who are still active preached there.
Source: Krone
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