Couple jailed for terror threats
2008-03-13 12:38
Vienna - An Austrian husband and wife were found guilty of involvement in terror threats against targets in Germany and Austria and sentenced to prison terms, the Austria Press Agency reported on Thursday.
An eight-member jury pronounced its verdicts just before midnight on Wednesday. Judge Norbert Gerstberger subsequently sentenced the man to four years and his wife to 22 months in prison.
The two were identified only by their first names in keeping with Austrian law - Mohamed M and Mona S.
The 22-year-old man was found guilty of involvement in a March 2007 video threatening Austria and Germany with attacks if they did not withdraw military personnel from Afghanistan and of other similar threats.
His wife, 21, was convicted for helping him, mostly by translating Arab texts into German.
Potential terrorist targets
Mohamed M was also convicted of mentioning, in internet forums frequented by Islamic radicals, the Vienna-based Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, and the Euro 2008 soccer championship as potential terrorist targets.
At the start of the trial on Monday, Mohamed M pleaded not guilty to all charges but acknowledged he had been active in the Global Islamic Media Front.
However, he disputed that the front had ties to al-Qaeda and described it as a media organisation whose goal is the truth.
He was calm on Wednesday, saying only, "I don't understand the verdict."
He could have been convicted to a maximum 10 years in prison.
- AP