03. 12. 10. - 16:15

Hitler Salute soldier withdrawn from Bosnia

An Austrian solider faces legal charges for giving the Nazi Salute while on an international peacekeeping mission.

The 19-year-old member of the militia branch of the Austrian army is accused of racially insulting Bosnians and an Austrian solider of Turkish origin at a recent birthday party in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Austria currently participates in the United Nations’(UN) peacekeeping mission in the country.

The soldier – who was also found having tattoos of symbols indicating an extreme right-wing mindset – was suspended from the mission and sent home, it was announced today (Fri).

He faces a disciplinary hearing at the army and a trial since his superiors reported the incident to the Austrian state prosecution.

Only in October a 42-year-old corporal, who has since been dismissed, was given a suspended three-month sentence by a court in Eisenstadt, Burgenland, for giving the Nazi or Hitler Salute several times when serving as a member of the Austrian peace keeping troops in Kosovo.