Police stops protest: academic ball and suspicion of incitement!
Police stops protest: academic ball and suspicion of incitement!
Äußeres Burgtor, 1010 Wien, Österreich - On March 24, 2025, the processes around the academic ball were again in focus. At the beginning of March, the Jewish Austrian university students (Jöh) initiated a three -day video installation on the outer castle gate to protest against right -wing extremist fraternities. This action should serve as a visualization of the continuing problems with right -wing extremism in Austria. During the installation, a “countdown to the Nazi ball” was projected and the sidewalk was labeled with chalk. The first two evenings of the rally went peacefully without police interventions, such as ots.at reported.
On the third day, the evening of the ball, however, events got out of control. Udo Guggenbichler, an FPÖ mandate and organizer of the academic ball, appeared at the rally. Despite previous investigations against Guggenbichler, the police intervened for re -activation, which were discontinued under unusual circumstances. According to the head of operations, this became active on the basis of a “arrangement of a lawyer of the assembly authority”, as “suspected contrast” existed. Ironically, the advertisement of Guggenbichler was brought in.
police operation and legal concerns
The name of the academic ball as “Naziball” was classified by the State Office for State Security and Extremism (LSE) as possibly rising, similar to the alternative proposal “cellarazi ball”. During the mission, there were conflicts of posters who called for protest. In addition, the police carried out identity assessments for all participants who were suspected of the supposed incitement as “contribution offenders”.
It was also criticized by observers that the police abused a law to protect minorities against a Jewish organization. Alon Ishay, the President of the Jöh, expressed his lack of understanding of the actions of the police and LSE. Mag. Bini Guttmann, the legal representative of the Jöh, was shocked by the application of the resolution paragraph against Jewish students, especially since the investigation of the protection of the constitution was considered strange.
right -wing extremism in Austria - a historical context
The incident throws a light on the persistent right -wing extremist currents in Austria, which have been available since the immediate post -war years. After the Second World War, the ideological processing of National Socialism was largely failing to establish, which led to the establishment of illegal neo -Nazi organizations. The right -wing extremist focus has changed over the decades, right down to the current Freedom Party (FPÖ), which is heavily linked to right -wing ideologies and media, such as DetailsOrt Äußeres Burgtor, 1010 Wien, Österreich Quellen