Lower Austrian after a bloody attack in Saudi Arabia further in custody

Lower Austrian after a bloody attack in Saudi Arabia further in custody

Mekka, Saudi-Arabien - A 20-year-old Lower Austrian has been in a high-security prison in Saudi Arabia for over 14 months. He will be accused of doing a terrorist attack on the site of the Al Haram Mosque in Mecca on March 11, 2024. The Saudi authorities have charged charges in nine points, but so far no information about the main hearing has been known. In fact, a process should begin in Riad on May 7, 2025, but details about the course or a possible judgment have so far been pending. The Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on request that there is no new information, and the Vienna public prosecutor's office cannot provide any current details on the case. According to media reports, the detained, Hasan E., is a suspected supporter of the Islamic State (IS) and is housed in the Dhahban prison, which houses around 7,500 inmates.

The conditions in the Saudi judicial proceedings are known to be non -transparent, especially in terrorist clues, and access for western diplomats or lawyers is often restricted. Austria has no formal influence on criminal proceedings, since this is carried out according to Saudi law, consular support guarantees if this is possible. This raises questions about the legal state and fairness of the processes in Saudi Arabia.

background of the attack

The alleged attack occurred at the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan and was carried out for religious-ideological motives. Hasan E. is said to have stabbed five people, with several of them seriously injured. The Saudi authorities had already reported on the incident on March 20, 2024. Among the victims were also security officers who had tried to arrest the attacker and were also injured. The perpetrator had previously acquired a knife on a market near the mosque. It remains unclear how he managed to get to the secure area armed.

Saudi Arabian media report unusually little about the incident, which indicates efforts to avoid negative publicity. In the background of the case, it becomes clear that Hasan E. and a 20-year-old friend from Lower Austria, who had published a loyalty litter on IS, are connected to several planned terrorist attacks. While Hasan E. has been detained in Saudi Arabia, his accomplice was arrested in Vienna after returning from a thwarted attack on a concert by Taylor Swift.

jurisprudence and human rights situation in Saudi Arabia

The case of the Lower Austrian falls into a context in which Saudi Arabia is increasingly under pressure to improve its human rights balance. In 2024, the number of executions in Saudi Arabia rose to 345, which is almost twice as many as in the previous year. Amnesty International documents the high numbers, which described the execution practice as historical and unprecedented. Despite the efforts to present the country as cosmopolitan, human rights organizations criticize the unfair processes and the abuse of confessions that were forced under torture

Without international support and in view of the peculiarity of Saudi case law, it remains to be seen how the situation of Hasan E. will develop. Amnesty International calls for a clear address of human rights violations and an end to the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. The convictions often refer not only to actual crimes, but also to political and religious activities, which further increases the concerns about the country's legal system.