Third arrest in neo-Nazi website case
Another suspected neo-Nazi has been arrested as prosecutors continue to investigate against alleged organisers of a fascist homepage.State prosecutors in Vienna said today (Thurs) that a man had been put in custody last weekend. Officials refused to reveal where the arrest took place. They also remained tight-lipped about his name and age, but confirmed that the arrest occurred in connection with the case of far-right internet platform “Alpen-Donau”.German-speaking neo-Nazis showed little ambition to disguise their Austrian backgrounds when they posted hateful messages against ethnic minorities, left-wing politicians and journalists on the controversial website for years before it was taken offline some weeks ago.Juridical officials in Austria were kept from interfering as the homepage turned out to be managed via a server located in the United States where there are less strict rules regarding the spreading of neo-Nazi propaganda. “Alpen-Donau” disappeared from the web days after Austrian investigators announced they asked authorities in the USA for help in the matter.Managers of the website pasted a note saying “Well be back.” online before taking the disputed discussion platform offline. The website reappeared online under a new internet address on 20 April, the birthday of Austrian-born Third Reich dictator Adolf Hitler.Two people have already been put in preventive detention in connection with the investigations against organisers of “Alpen-Donau” earlier this week. Police confirmed that one of them is infamous neo-Nazi scene ringleader Gottfried Küssel, the former head of banned political movement VAPO.Küssel and the other suspect an internet expert from the province of Burgenland are accused of cooperating with the people behind “Alpen-Donau”. Various documents, data storage devices and World War Two (WWII) era memorabilia were seized when six apartments owned by Küssel and other suspects were searched by special police teams.