Politics Verdict in Austria: Suspended sentence for Hitler salute and racist chants

A young man in Austria has been sentenced for showing the Hitler salute and making racist chants. The court handed down a suspended sentence and ordered a tour of the Mauthausen concentration camp.

A 25-year-old man was sentenced in Austria after showing the Hitler salute and singing a racist version of the song "L'Amour toujours". The district court in Wels found him guilty of violating the Nazi Prohibition Act and gave him a four-month suspended sentence.

Witness testimony at the trial confirmed that the man and two other defendants had sung "Ausländer raus" to the tune of the well-known song by Gigi D'Agostino one night last July in Bad Ischl. They shouted "Sieg Heil" and raised their arms in the Hitler salute. The 25-year-old and a 19-year-old co-defendant confessed to the incidents. While the younger defendant was not convicted, he must take part in a guided tour of the former Mauthausen concentration camp, as the judge ruled. The 25-year-old must also visit the concentration camp as part of his sentence. A 16-year-old girl who was also charged was acquitted as she denied making right-wing extremist slogans or gestures.

Incident in the cultural capital Bad Ischl

Bad Ischl, a town to the east of Salzburg, is one of the three European Capitals of Culture this year and places particular emphasis on the culture of remembrance.

Since May, several cases have come to light in Germany and Austria in which racist slogans were shouted to the tune of "L'Amour toujours". The most well-known incident took place on Sylt at Whitsun.

SDA