01.08.2014 Trial: racist Facebook posts against Rroma

Several Austrian newspapers report on a court case against the members of an anti-Semitic Facebook-group, who, in a series of messages against the Rroma openly called for violence against the minority: “Because of racist comments on Facebook about a tumultuous confrontation between locals and members of the Roma on September the 2nd, 2013 in Bischofshofen, on Wednesday seven out of eight accused men aged 18-39 years stood on trial. Some of the accused who are mostly coming from Salzburg are accused to have called for violence” (Salzburger Nachrichten 2014/I). Through extensive research work, the authorities were able to reconstruct all entries of the Facebook group that were deleted after the initiation of the lawsuit. The eight-mentioned members of the group were accused of racist abuse and demagoguery. Seven of them are now standing trial where they had to justify their hostility: ““Molotov cocktails” ought to have been thrown into the camp of the Roma and “the riffraff should be exterminated”, coud be read there. A defendant actually requested the “final solution” the [prosecutor] Neher stated disgustedly. These comments were visible to the 2,442-members of the Facebook group, the prosecutor blamed the accused. One asked for violence against the Roma and they were “insulted in inhumane, hurtful way. […] The reproached offenses are punishable by a sentence of up to two years” (Salzburger Nachrichten 2014/I). Most of the respondents replied that they didn’t mean it seriously and got carried away by the other entries. This raises the question as whether one can in any context be “not serious” with such inhuman statements. Telling is that most of the accused considered themselves immune from prosecution in the anonymity of the internet and didn’t expect any consequences for their actions. Only one of the accused was effectively present at the physical confrontation near the ski jump in Bischofshofen. During the riots the youths provoked around 200 Rroma who camped legally on the grounds near the ski jump. After initial verbal attacks the conflict quickly degenerated into a physical pogrom. As the Kurier (2014) communicated on the evening of July the 30th, all the accused were sentenced to suspended sentences of imprisonment, the maximum amounted to four years (compare Die Presse 2014, ORF 2014, Salzburg 24 2014, Salzburger Nachrichten 2014/II).