Welcome to the new edition of evil:austria!

As the sun is shining, one could almost forget which country this is here, but a glance at the new edition will get us back to reality immediately...

Once again, for newcomers, an explanation what this newsletter is about and why we produce 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 realized 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 and English):

raw@raw.at

Have fun!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< ;begin content >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

****************************************************************
[1] Austrian handling of the past
****************************************************************
[2] Everyday revisionism
****************************************************************
[3] "Refining humynkind"
****************************************************************
[4] When fascists meet...
****************************************************************
[5] Nazis working for the state
****************************************************************
[6] Haider not welcome...
****************************************************************
[7] An end to independent journalism
****************************************************************
[8] "Opportunity makes a thief"
****************************************************************
[9] Banks refuse the opening of an account
****************************************************************
[10] Haider can rely on the legal system
****************************************************************
[11] Murderous conditions in Austrian prisons
****************************************************************
[12] The WEF summit in Salzburg
****************************************************************

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< ;end content >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

****************************************************************
[1] Austrian handling of the past
****************************************************************

A discussion about how to deal with the holocausr with Jewish journalist Rafael Seligmann was only possible with a considerable delay and under police protection. The afternoon before the discussion, Seligmann was verbally abused during a radio broadcast by anti-semitic callers, then a fake bomb was found in the studio. So much for how Austrians deal with their past....

****************************************************************
[2] Everyday revisionism
****************************************************************

The Salzburg town of Hallein used to have a subsidiary camp administered by the Dachau concentration camp. Quite a few members of FPOe seem to think it was high time now to deny this part of hystory. Therefore, an FPOe member of the city council now told an old resistance fighter she was forging hystory since there never was a camp in Hallein. The 96-year-old womyn saved 17 persons from being murdered by the Nazis in 1945.

****************************************************************
[3] "Refining humynkind"
****************************************************************

During a solstice party organised by rightwing extreme Austrian Landsmannschaft, Lower Austrian FPOe vice chairperson Ewald Stadler demanded a "refining of man". As his speech was of a rightwing national character in general, it is no surprise that the speech was also heard by Gottfried Kuessel who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for being chairperson of Neonazi Volkstreue Opposition (VAPO).

A main part of his speech Stadler dedicated to hate paroles against Israel and warning that the country might want to join European Community.

****************************************************************
[4] When fascists meet...
****************************************************************

... Austria is a top place for them at the moment. Belgian rightwing extreme Vlaams Blok did their "summer university" in Tyrolean Lechtal this year. One of the persons giving a speech there was Haider's cultural advisor - also writing a column for the largest Austrian daily paper - Andreas Moelzer who gave his views on "Nationalist cultural politics in Carinthia". Moelzer also stresses the parallels between FPOe and Vlaams Blok: "Both are giving a feeling of identity, and there are also conformities regarding the politics towards foreigners."

****************************************************************
[5] Nazis working for the state
****************************************************************

According to a report in news magazine Profil, members of the rightwing extreme Vienna students' fraternity "Olympia" via provider McWeb do services for the Intranet of the central registration office for the Ministry of the Interior and for the prison administration of the Ministry of InJustice.

The latest secret service report of the Ministry of the Interior says that "these fraternities spread a rightwing extreme ideology" and therefore observation should be continued. We are certain that their hiring for this work is part of the observation strategy.

****************************************************************
[6] Haider not welcome...
****************************************************************

There are many places Haider is not welcome, but we wouldn't have thought that the list of these places also includes Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia, where Haider is head of government. What happened?

Haider meant to address the audience of the jazz festival "New Orleans meets Klagenfurt" with a speech. However, this plan was immediately disturbed by the audience who started whistling. When also the musicians said they did not intend to play if Haider was to speak, Haider had to leave the festival.

****************************************************************
[7] An end to independent journalism
****************************************************************

With a resolution, journalists of news magazin "Zeit im Bild" of state-owned monopoly TV station ORF try to fight against the increasing interventions by government representatives and to fight for their journalistic independence. They give five examples in which massive pressure was exerted on ORF journalists to take some issues out of news magazines and to get in others.

Due to the high pressure - including personal attacks against them -, some ORF journalists are thinking of leaving the TV station to get other jobs, since it is not possible for them do continue work in a decent way with the state owned station. These are attempts to get rid of broadcasts inconvenient to the government, also by the government parties' practice not to send any representatives to TV discussions covering issues they don't like...

****************************************************************
[8] "Opportunity makes a thief"
****************************************************************

In a leaflet entitled "info - crime and prevention" - editor: civil protection department of the Graz city council headed by Peter Weinmeister, vize mayor and FPOe member -, wymyn will find some "interesting" info. With the headline "Opportunity makes a thief" (!!!), the following advice is provided: "More than half of the sexual assaults reported will happen outdoors, the majority of them during the warm season, when women are often only scarcely clad. If you go out on your own, especially in the dark, you should avoid to give the impression of being too 'permissive'."

So according to the worldview of FPOe, rape is the fault of wymyn being scarcely clad. But the leaflet tells us how to be prepared: "If need be", wymyn should carry a spare set of clothes "to change dress". The idea of wymyn learning how to defend themselves and bashing the assaulter does not occur in the leaflet (and apparently also not in the worldview of its producers).

****************************************************************
[9] Banks refuse the opening of an account
****************************************************************

Starting next year, Austrian university students will have to pay a fee of 5,000 Shillings per term. Students are not prepared to give in easily and pay. Therefore, they were planning a boycott with precautions, i.e. not paying fees to the state, but paying the amounts into a special account if not enough students were participating in the boycott. Now the boycott may be endangered altogether, since NO bank is willing to open such an account. Students' representatives believe this is due to a political intervention by the government.

****************************************************************
[10] Haider can rely on the legal system
****************************************************************

Carinthian head of government Joerg Haider will not have to appear before a court for his antisemitic comment upon the president of the Israelite Community Ariel Muzicant.
Haider's pun was: "I don't understand how a person called Ariel [Ariel also being the name of a detergent, RAW] can be that dirty" [a pun hard to translate, indicating that the person is guilty of crimes; translator's note].
The public prosecutors' office now has dropped charges against Haider.

****************************************************************
[11] Murderous conditions in Austrian prisons
****************************************************************

A series of articles in Vienna magazine "Falter" now made public the situation in many Austrian prisons. In Lower Austrian prison Stein, they used to have a so-called "sauna" where prisoners were put into naked under high temperatures to discipline them. Prisoners with drug addictions were made to undergo cold withdrawal, the medical doctor in that prison called drug addicts "social trash". Prisoners suffering from mental illness were put "in the basement". Newly arriving prisoners were put in isolation for their first week in general. Meanwhile, seven cases of deaths are being re-investigated: four suicides, two heart attacks, and one prisoner dying of an intestinal disease after wards tied him to his bed.

****************************************************************
[12] The WEF summit in Salzburg
****************************************************************

From July 1-3, the annual meeting of World Economic Forum (WEF) for Middle and East Europe took place in Salzburg. Under the telltale title "Building on Diversity", many "global leaders" gathered to agree upon common goals.

Already before the meeting, the Austrian state made clear that protests like in Gothenburg or Prague would not be tolerated. Therefore, 5,000 police officers were on duty, all protest marches were banned and only one stationary rally was permitted. Border controls were reintroduced and activists were prevented from entering Austria. In Bavaria, three persons were banned from leaving their country.

Despite all this, there was a protest march after the rally in which between 1,000-2,000 persons participated. The march ended after minor clashes with the police, with participators being rounded up for six hours. Although long negotiations made it possible for them to leave in small groups, all persons were filmed and police also established the identity of a part of participants. 14 protesters were arrested, among them nine persons holding non-Austrian passports.

There were several attacks against the freedom of the press, as e.g. controls despite a press card being produced, video tapes were destroyed, one journalist got arrested, and of course journalists were prevented from filming police actions.

****************************************************************
EPILOGUE
****************************************************************

If you do not wish to receive our newsletters any longer, please drop us a short mail to this effect. But please first make certain that you are receiving our newsletters DIRECTLY from us - otherwise please contact the friendly persons who forwarded our newsletter to you ;))))))

But of course we are much more pleased if you contact us because you want to subscribe to our newsletter. Any person who would like to receive our newsletters directly, thus making certain to receive every issue, please send us a mail and tell us to include you to our mailing list. (Again we would like to ask you to write in German or English!)

It is also simple to subscribe to our newsletter on our website (http://www.raw.at) in the field "Kontakt". Just put in your e-mail address and chose the appropriate language(s) and that's it!

See you again next month,

NO PEACE WITH AUSTRIA!!!