FPÖ official sentenced over rifle threat
A rightist politician has been given a suspended prison sentence for threatening his son with a rifle.Valentin Silberstein, who heads the Freedom Partys (FPÖ) branch in the Lower Austrian town of Traismauer, fired a shot with his Winchester rifle at a company estate in Grafenwörth in the presence of his 19-year-old son last month.The teenager, who remained unharmed, was allegedly asked by his dad to meet him to come in order to reconcile after having argued about various things for a long time. The 43-year-old was put in custody after courageous workers managed to hold him back.Judges at the Provincial Court in St. Pölten declared a five-month suspended jail term against the man, who is reportedly entangled in a bitter feud with his ex-wife, yesterday (Weds).FPÖ district department chief Erich Königsberger announced that the party had already started procedures to expel Silberstein.The right-wing FPÖ is currently the third-strongest party on federal level in Austria. It claimed 17.5 per cent in the 2008 general elections, up from its 11 per cent share it garnered two years earlier.