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NEWS
15-Month Sentence for Vandalizing Jewish School in
Vienna
By R. Hoffner
A Vienna court sentenced a 24-year-old Croatian man to 15
months imprisonment for a rampage that caused an estimated
150,000 euro ($200,000) in damage to a Jewish school in the
city. The incident was considered the worst antisemitic
attack in Austria since the early 1980s. The judges say they
decided on a harsh sentence because the perpetrator was a
"declared antisemite" who expressed no remorse for his
acts.
The Jewish community in Austria and the Israeli consulate in
Vienna lodged a protest against the lenient sentence.
Community leaders called it "completely inadequate and
baffling," considering that the maximum sentence for damage
in excess of 50,000 euros is five years' imprisonment. They
expressed hopes that the General Prosecutor would appeal for
a heavier sentence.
According to his statement, the defendant had come to Vienna
for a visit. Passing near a Jewish school he decided "there
were too many Jews in the country." On November 26, 2006 at
2:00 am he broke into the school using an iron rod to shatter
the windows and proceeded to wreck the classrooms and annex
rooms on all three floors of the building, spraying swastikas
on the walls. Neighbors called the police, who apprehended
him a short time later. While being held in jail the
defendant claimed his name was Adolph Hitler and refused to
cooperate with investigators.
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