Welcome to a new edition of evil:austria!

It is almost two months since the elections took place [this was accurate when the german version of this edition of the newsletter was published, but while the translation took place, a new governement was formed, more about that in the next edition] but there is still no government, the conservative election winners OeVP enjoy being flirted with by all others parties, and the final result still cannot be predicted... Back to the newsletter: in this edition, there is a special on Styrian capital Graz which has just been made European Cultural Capital for 2003, but there are also reports about the other horrors happening in this country.

And now a short explanation (for the newcomers) of what this newsletter should be and why we write it:

evil:austria is our monthly newsletter providing information about the situation in Austria (and regarding the consequences of FPOe/OeVP government). We decided to produce this newsletter since we realised that knowledge regarding the actual situation in Austria is not very widespread abroad. The government, after discussions about EU-"sanctions" against Austria were dropped, succeeded in removing the daily insanity from the attention of the international public. Meanwhile "sanctions" have been lifted, which almost all political groups here celebrated as a victory, and the "interest" taken in the development in Austria has decreased even more. The "normalisation" of the right-wing/right-extreme government continues, and therefore information about the aggravation of the situation in Austria is even more important. It is therefore highly desired that you spread this newsletter as widely as possible, so that as many people as possible get to know about the situation in Austria. So please spread, spread, spread this. Of course you may also use this material (also in excerpts) for magazines and papers, but we would be glad if you sent us a short mail in this case.

Any criticism and comments please send to (if possible, please write in German or English):

raw@raw.at

Have fun!

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[1] Austria: Fishy
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[2] Defining terrorists...
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[3] Haider making plans for Europe
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[4] Graz - an Austrian 'European Cultural Capital'
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[5] Neo-Nazi concert in Vienna
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[6] Neo-Nazi event in Vorarlberg
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[7] The most racist school in the country
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[8] UNHCR criticizes new asylum guidelines
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[9] Right to see a lawyer now also applies for suspects
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[10] FPOe in financial dire straits
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[1] Austria: Fishy
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Austrian OeVP sticks to the motto of former Bavarian Prime Minister F.J. Strauss - 'Only the wall must be at the position to the right of us' -, which is not only proved by the latest election results, but also by continuing racist trips by party members. In an interview with a regional newspaper in Upper Austria, an OeVP mayor said: "There are foreigners, I tell you, they really stink. This is a fact." In the resulting discussion, the mayor tried to back up. He only meant to point out that there were foreign persons "who lack personal hygiene, who smell badly and therefore cause anger with the neighbours in a house." Ah so.

(source: http://derstandard.at)

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[2] Defining terrorists...
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The asylum department in the Home office received a new chairperson who therefore becomes the 'mastermind' of Austrian refugee policy - Christian Romanowski, a friend of extreme right FPOe politician Ewald Stadler (cf. evil:austria 0502), who is also known for racist interpretations of asylum rights. So asylum seekers mutate to terrorists without any evidence, but this is the official reason to reject asylum applications. Voices in the Home Office say that this happens due to pressure from FPOe who had blocked the personnel management by Home Sec Strasser (cf. evil:austria 0602).

Politically motivated massive changes in personnel effected by Home Sec Ernst Strasser caused some commotion - at one point in time, coalition talks between OeVP and SPOe were in danger of breaking down. 56 high ranking police officers were transfered to other jobs. Especially the case of Ernst Schnabl who used to be general inspector of the Vienna Security Dept. saw much criticism: although Schnabl - an SPOe sympathizer - was the top qualified person, Strasser decided against him.

(source: http://www.falter.at / http://derstandard.at)

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[3] Haider making plans for Europe
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After FPOe's defeat at the latest national elections, Joerg Haider apparently seeks new aims and reinforces his plans for Europe. According to information of Austrian daily 'Kurier', he already plans to join forces for the European elections in 2004 with Belgian Vlaams Blok, Italian Lega Nord and other parties of the extreme right represented in the European parliament. In July 2002, a meeting to prepare this project took place in Carinthia (cf. evil:austria 0702)

(source: http://www.kurier.at)

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[4] Graz - an Austrian 'European Cultural Capital'
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Graz made it and became Europan Cultural Capital this year. But the cultural programme cannot wipe out the past and present of this city. The Nazis proudly presented Graz as the 'city of public rebellion' - information at:

http://mayday.widerstand.org/download/stadtfuehrereng.pdf

So here's a little 'special':

# Graz police accused of racism

Also in recent history, Graz did not present its best aspects to the world - after a failed FPOe attempt to install civilian vigilant forces, Graz police took over. The foreign residents' council of Graz criticizes the racist way of fighting drugs which mainly victimizes African persons; verbal racist attacks and injuries were reported. Styrian Security Director Josef Klamminger rejects criticism of police officers since officers were 'handling things with special sensitiveness, even when facing highly aggressive persons'. Klamminger believes that they will continue to 'work against the unfortunately known group of persons who, by peddling heroin and cocaine, cause veritable human tragedies and often ruin entire families for good'.

(source: http://derstandard.at)

# 'Gym Heil' for 'German Austria'

A commemorative plaque meets resistance again, although - according to City Councillor Gerhard Ruesch (OeVP) - it has already been given the status of a document of recent history. This plaque remembers Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778-1852) who is rated among the predecessors of German fascism and whose texts present many examples of anti-semitism, sexism, and racism. Even two motions presented by Green politicians since 1997 could not bring about changes in mind with Mayor Alfred Stingl (SPOe) and Siegfried Nagl (OeVP) .

(source: http://derstandard.at)

# Criticism of police not wanted

The letter of an activist from MayDay2000 Graz, criticizing the way a police special unit handled a peaceful protest of young persons during an OeVP event presenting Bavarian politician Edmund Stoiber on October 6, 2000, had consequences. It happened to be a Social Democratic police officer and trade union member who filed a lawsuit against the letter asking how he could call himself a Social Democrat since he defended the actions of an FPOe police officer during this event. "Or does it meanwhile happen to be Social Democrat to be responsible for a police mission during which young persons get thrown to the ground, mistreated, are taken in custody for no reason, and during which press and foto documentation on the scene were prevented?", the letter asked. The law suit now was decided in favour of the police officer, the letter has to be renounced, and costs of EURO 2,866 must be paid by the author of the letter.

further info at:

MayDay2000 Graz

Post: Postfach 466, 8011 Graz

http://mayday.widerstand.org

Email: mayday2000graz@hotmail.com

Support: Sparbuch Nr. 32 22 61 85, BLZ 38 000, Bezeichnung "MayDay2000 Graz"

(source: http://mayday.widerstand.org)

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[5] Neo-Nazi concert in Vienna
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German Neo-Nazi Michael Mueller did a gig at the end of January at the premises of extreme right students' fraternity Olympia (in whose ranks one will find numerous FPOe functionaries like former MP Martin Graf). Mueller's gig was protected by police, despite of lyrics like: 'At 6 million Jews, the fun only has begun to start, at 6 million Jews, the stove has just got warmed up (...) we have lots of supplies of Cyclon B (...) and at 6 million Jews we haven't had enough by far'. Lyrics like this example are illegal under the Austrian law against Renewed National Socialist Activities. However, persons eager to listen to the songs of the Nazi singer were, even if shortly, prevented to enter Olympia's premises by an anti-fascist protest of 200 persons which was organized at short notice.

(source: own investigations)

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[6] Neo-Nazi event in Vorarlberg
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In reaction to a huge Neo-Nazi concert last October (cf evil:austria 1002), Socialist Youth started an 'antifa campaign' which was meant to finish with an antifa concert in the town of Feldkirch. The concert could not take place as autorities demanded security regulations which were beyond the financial means of organizers. Therefore, two antifa protest marches with about 150 young persons took place at the end of November and beginning of December 2002. The reaction of "Skinheads Vorarlberg" - who are close to Blood&Honour - was to organize a protest march against "Left intolerance, Restricted Freedom of Opinion, against a-social instigators, Communist reactions, asylum cheats, and parasites of the social system" for December 14, 2002 in the town of Bregenz. An antifa campaign quickly started and there was a considerable media commotion re the Nazi protest march (authorities expected up to 1,000 fascist participants), and this resulted in a ban of this march.

The ban most probably was not due to the arguments of anti-fascists, but to appeals for a ban from OeVP (reasons given: concern about economy as the Nazi march would have taken place at a Saturday when usually many shoppers buy Xmas presents) and FPOe (concerns about 'security'). Authorities used the fact of persons having shouted 'Sieg Heil' in the early morning during a concert in the town of Hohenems on Oct 10, 2002. Such 'incidents' had up to that point been strictly denied by the very same authorities, so that there allegedly were no legal means against Nazi concerts. Huge police forces and massive border controls were installed to prevent Nazis from doing their planned march despite the ban. The day ended with a Blood&Honour concert with an audience of 150 persons in the town of Rankweil being stopped by police at about 10 o'clock p.m. At this point in time, the concert was nearly finished anyway. The organization 'Skinheads Vorarlberg' meanwhile appealed against the ban on their march and announced further action throughout the year 2003.

Info: http://www.anarchismus.at/txt3/bloodhonour.htm (November 2002)

(source: own investigations)

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[7] The most racist school in the country
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Vienna EV School came up with the following guidelines: A decree bans non-Austrian students from speaking their respective native languages even during breaks. Could be discussing plans for the next terrorist attack, after all, couldn't they....

(source: http://www.format.at)

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[8] UNHCR criticizes new asylum guidelines
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The head of Vienna UNHCR bureau, Ms Karola Paul, criticized Austrian asylum policy when changing to the Geneva bureau. Similar problems within European Community were only to be observed in Portugal or Greece where they were due to a lack of infrastructure. Paul also favours attempts to speed up asylum lawsuits, but only if and when the number of officials in the Federal Bureau of Asylum is increased. She also mentioned she did not understand at all how asylum applicants could be dismissed from federal care, thus making asylum seekers homeless and prone to criminal ways of making a living. She further criticized that asylum applicants are subject to a differentiated way of treatment according to their country of origin, as is realized by Home Sec Strasser.

(source: http://derstandard.at)

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[9] Right to see a lawyer now also applies for suspects
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The right to legal representation should go without saying, but in Austria, the Higher Administrative Court had to present a verdict explicitly stating that also suspects have this right. Police up to then has neglected this and rejected having lawyers present during a first questioning of suspects. An according regulation up to now read that "exceptions may be made .... when certain facts allow the assumption that this [a lawyer's] presence may hinder investigations". From the police point of view, this will of course always be the case....

(source: http://derstandard.at)

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[10] FPOe in financial dire straits
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In the moment of defeat, old loyalties may get thrown overboard: the former manager and later on public relations expert of FPOe has filed a lawsuit against the party which has financial problems anyway. He sues for EURO 110,000 which FPOe Carinthia has failed to pay. A similar lawsuit with federal FPOe - over the amount of EURO 250,000 - has meanwhile been finished with the parties finding an agreement.

(source: http://derstandard.at)

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NO PEACE WITH AUSTRIA!!!