Neo-Nazi scene member remains in detention
A man arrested when police searched houses in Vienna and Styria for banned neo-Nazi memorabilia earlier this week will remain in detention, it was announced today (Fri).The Criminal Court in Vienna announced the man whose identity has been withheld will be kept in detention for longer as investigations continue. He was arrested alongside infamous neo-Nazi ringleader Gottfried Küssel in Vienna on Monday. The duo are suspected of spreading neo-Nazi propaganda and supporting the managers of a controversial website.The “Alpen-Donau” internet portal was taken offline by its organisers shortly after Austrian investigators asked their counterparts in the United States of America for support last month. Vienna state prosecutors found it difficult to take action against the online meeting point of fascists from all over German-speaking Europe as the homepage was run via a server situated in the USA. A statement posted on the site shortly before its organisers took it off the web read: “Well be back!”Activities on the homepage have been debated by Austrias public and the media for months. The pressure on authorities to take action increased when the private addresses and phone numbers of journalists and high-ranking politicians were put online.Several documents and data storage devices were confiscated in the six flats which were searched by police in Vienna and the province of Styria on Monday evening. Officials said today no further arrests have been made since Küssel and the unnamed other suspect were put in custody.