The pipe dream of a major political raid (nd-aktuell.de)
It is not every day that hundreds of heavily armed special police forces move out in otherwise rather tranquil Austria to search properties and arrest people. the 9th November 2020 was such a day. However, two years later, the allegations are nothing more than a populist chewing gum bubble. One for Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) likely to become a problem. Because he was Minister of the Interior in November 2020 and is responsible for the large-scale raid that became known as “Action Luxor”.
The basis for the large-scale search: A 200-page order. The goal: an alleged network of Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, mainly in Vienna, Salzburg and Graz. The allegations weighed heavily: the suspects were accused of terrorist financing as well as recruitment and infiltration of state structures. Allegedly, according to the spokeswoman at the time, the network had the goal of establishing an Islamic state in Europe. The main suspect: the well-known Austrian political scientist Farid Hafez.
No lawsuits or convictions
Two years later, almost nothing remains of all these allegations. The preliminary investigation against Farid Hafez was dropped this week – just like the investigations into 31 other suspects. There are neither charges nor convictions, but only the comprehensive statement by the investigating public prosecutor’s office and the competent higher regional court in Graz that the allegations are based on rumours, conjecture, vague assessments, unverifiable sources and assumptions or »hearsay«. The Higher Regional Court now says, literally, that it is “a collection of mere indications, the reliability of which cannot be verified due to a lack of meaningful control facts …”
As early as the summer of 2021, the Higher Regional Court of Graz found that the raids were at least partially illegal. There had already been loud doubts about the action on the day of the raid itself. The reason for the war primarily the timing of the action. A week earlier, an Islamist assassin had shot around in Vienna. Four people star. It was the first and so far only such attack in Austria.
Above all, however, the investigations into the crime revealed hair-raising investigation mishaps within hours. As early as summer 2020, the Austrian authorities were warned by foreign secret services that the later assassin was involved in relevant international networks and was attempting to procure ammunition. And finally, it became more and more clear that the assassin had armed himself practically under the eyes of the authorities – and by no means cunningly and cunningly.
The young man acted about as conspiratorially and inconspicuously as a blind pink elephant in a china shop: in 2018 he tried to travel to Afghanistan – but without a visa and was therefore under the surveillance of the authorities. He went straight to the plan to get ammunition for an automatic rifle: he drove to Bratislava with an Islamist who was under surveillance by the German authorities, went into a gun shop and asked for ammunition for an automatic rifle.
ÖVP in the fight against »political Islam«
Interior Minister Nehammer was under massive fire at the time. He countered criticism of his department with criticism of the justice department and his predecessor Herbert Kickl (today head of the FPÖ). In the end, the minister was only able to save himself through a reform of the secret service, which had already been called for several times. After all, the prevention of the fact failed due to a lack of staff, disinterest and communication errors and distrust between departments. The Luxor operation was an action staged by the media: Nehammer scowling on the street at night in the midst of special forces, accompanied by combative rhetoric. At that time, the ÖVP, still led by Sebastian Kurz, discovered the Fight against »political Islam« for himself – and Nehammer, today chancellor, was one of the spokesmen.