February 1, 2010: barely four weeks before the opening trial date in the Austrian §278a case, three more activists were charged with the same paragraph (278a) and are expected to stand with the rest of the defendants. As usual in this case, the (old and new) defendants learned this latest development from the media. The three newly charged persons have only four weeks to prepare themselves for one of the largest trials in the history of the Second Republic in Austria and to read through thousands of pages of case files. The legal defence costs, which were already high from the start, will grow even more unaffordable.

Apparently the prosecution is worried that the accusations of §278a (Forming a Criminal Organisation) will not hold up for the 10 originally charged as not all of them are accused of any specific felonies besides the dubious „Paragraph 278a.“ The judicature calls for at least 10 members for a Criminal Organisation. The prosecution seems to hope that even if some of the defendants are acquitted, at least 10 will remain for the imagined Criminal Organisation.

There is some good news as well: according to the media the investigations into 28 people were discontinued. It seems that the police are continuing investigations into only one person.

Alex Sommer from the group Antirep2008 states, “This way of handling the case is an unbelievable affront. None of the 13 should have to stand trial. Quantity is not the same as quality. More files and more defendants do not make the accusations less ridiculous.“

Oh, and the three newly accused still have not formally received copies of the charges. We can only look forward to whatever other absurdities of the justice system await.
8. February 2010