Lead Figure of Austrian Right Stands Trial for Neo-nazi Acts

A prominent figure of the Austrian extreme right has been standing trial here because of alleged neo-Nazi activities.

Hans Schimanek, 31, was accused of being the provincial leader of a radical illegal neo-Nazi organization known as Vapo, the district attorney said. The group’s leader, Gottfried Kuessel, is serving an 11-year jail term.

The district attorney said the court has to fight “self-proclaimed elites, who want to replace civil peace with civil war.”

A large amount of neo-Nazi material was found in Schimanek’s home after a recent police search. A video that now is in police custody apparently shows the defendant calling for street fights with leftists and the police. Other films reputedly show Schimanek training 12-to 14-year-olds for various killing techniques.

A former army drill instructor, Schimanek confessed to the distribution of neo- Nazi propaganda. “We wanted to recruit young members,” he has said.

But he has denied working toward an overthrow of the democracy and of serving as a commanding member of Vapo, which has called itself “the most radical and militant group of the national scene,” sources said.

Due to seriousness of the charges, which date back to 1992, Schimanek faces life imprisonment. Dozens of witnesses were slated to testify at his ongoing trial.

In 1992, Schimanek was arrested but soon released — allegedly after a top judge in Vienna intervened. The judge apparently was a close friend of Schimanek’s father, who is a provincial councilman in lower Austria and a member of Jorg Haider’s Freedom Party. The matter is apparently under investigation.

The Freedom Party has more than nominal support from the general population, according to recent elections. Haider has tried to keep foreigners out of Austria and has expressed support for the Third Reich’s labor policies.