Hitler pictures in the apartment, Nazi symbols on the body: why do you do that? “Out of stupidity,” said an accused Salzburger (39) at his trial on Monday. After a confession, he received 20 months probation.
The public prosecutor charged the tall and bearded defendant with four crimes under the Prohibition Act and two offenses under the Weapons Act on Monday in the regional court and emphasized to the jury: “You don’t have to be a Nazi to be convicted of repeat activity.” In Austria, glorifying the Nazi past and displaying Nazi symbols is already punishable. The accused did this in several ways, as he himself admits: in countless WhatsApp messages, he portrayed the atrocities of the Nazis as tasteless satire. He had pictures of Hitler hanging in his apartment. And he had clear tattoos on his body: a swastika on his left breast and SS symbols on his upper arm. The defender speaks of the defendant’s “recklessness” and emphasizes: “It’s definitely a downplaying of the Nazi era.” The tattoos, one “Intoxication action” in youth days has now been removed: “The accused burned one away with a soldering iron.” The accused, a passionate marksman, himself speaks of “insane stupidity”: “I never wanted anything bad. I was not aware of the scope.” A visit to the concentration camp memorial in Mauthausen opened his eyes: “During the concentration camp visit, I realized how thoughtless I had acted.” The jury also honored this insight. The sentence: 20 months imprisonment on probation.
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