Removing the Effects of Operation Luxor: Will the Austrian Court Verdict Change the Situation of Its Muslims?

On June 30, 2022, the Supreme Administrative Court in the Austrian city of Graz issued its verdict regarding the Islamic Cultural Association (Verein Liga Kultur) in the country.

The verdict, a copy of which was obtained by Al-Estiklal, imposed a set of measures that ease the security grip on the Association that represents a large segment of Muslims, after years of persecution and repression practiced by the ruling Austrian People's Party government in the country (right-wing).

The party, which was under the leadership of the former chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, and the current chancellor, Karl Nehammer, had tightened the noose around Muslims and carried out extensive security operations against them.

The most important and most famous of them was Operation Luxor, which caused a tightening of procedures and the prosecution of the symbols of the Islamic community in Vienna. It is not known why it was given that name.

About 930 Austrian security men participated in this operation, in November 2020, as they raided dozens of headquarters and homes in 4 states, including Vienna, Lower Austria, Carinthia, and Styria.

 

Historic Verdict

The most important decision of the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court, regarding Operation Luxor, was that it decided to cancel the procedure for monitoring the bank accounts of the Islamic Association (Verein Liga Kultur) and to destroy the information collected by the Public Prosecution as a result of this monitoring.

As well as the illegality of monitoring the headquarters of the Association by image and sound, and the destruction of all recordings resulting from this monitoring.

It was also stated in the verdict's rationale that the charges against the Association do not rise to take such control measures and do not justify them.

“There were suspicions, but there was no suspicion of incitement by the Islamic establishment, and therefore the government's actions were in violation of the law,” it added.

The verdict issued by the court in Graz was considered a historic victory for the broad Muslim community in the country, and a blow to the government of the People's Party, which bears hostility toward them.

It is noteworthy that this verdict is not the first in relation to Operation Luxor, but it is the most important.

On August 3, 2021, the Supreme Court of the Austrian province of Graz also issued a verdict regarding complaints filed by some Muslims whose homes and workplaces were raided by the Austrian security services (during Operation Luxor), between individuals and Associations affiliated with Islamic centers in Austria.

The court confirmed that the campaign of raids and arrests that took place within the operation was illegal, and declared that it accepted all complaints submitted against the campaign by the victims of the operation, which it considered lacking any strong evidence.

Officials at the Austrian Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism (BVT) declared that the initiation of the investigation was politically motivated by the Kurz government.

 

Islamic Association

The Islamic Cultural Association in Austria (Verein Liga Kultur) played a prominent role in the advancement of the status of the Austrian Islamic community.

The organization was founded in 1976 by the Syrian Ahmed Abdel-Rahimsi, and at that time the government considered it the only Association that represents and manages the needs of Muslims in Austria.

This is in accordance with the Islamic law regulating the rights of the Muslim community in the country, which was issued as early as 1912.

During the following years, the Association worked to provide great services to Muslims in Austria, where it established the Academy of Islamic Religious Education, with the aim of preparing a generation of teachers and students who could link society to religion, without importing teachers from abroad.

It also aims to supervise mosques and Islamic centers, organize private and public events for Muslims, and present representatives of Austrian Muslims at prestigious meetings with the government and the European Parliament.

Islam is the second largest religion in Austria, practiced by 8 percent of the total population, according to government estimates.

The number of Muslims on Austrian soil is approximately one million citizens, and the vast majority of Muslims belong to the Sunni sect, with a Shiite minority.

Most of the Muslims came to Austria during the 1960s as migrant workers from Turkiye and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there are also Arab and Afghani communities.

Under the Islam Law of 1912, which goes back to the then Habsburg royal family, Austria was one of the few Western countries that legally recognized Islam as a religion.

Vienna has long been known as one of the most open and accommodating capitals for Muslims and allowing them to practice their religious rites.

However, the affairs of the Muslim community turned upside down after the rise of the right-wing and far-right parties to power and created an absolute state of motivation against Islam and Muslims led by former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

 

Hate Campaigns

Those parties were using the pretext of Muslim immigrants as the main reason in their electoral campaigns and were working to incite against them and restrict them.

The matter went to the extent of expelling the imams of mosques from the country, in addition to stigmatizing the Islamic dress of Muslim women with the hijab as a symbol of terrorism and regression.

On March 21, 2019, a report published by the Association for Action Against Racism and Civil Response revealed that racist attacks against immigrants and Muslims in Austria during 2018 had risen to 1920.

On May 17, 2019, Austria's lower house of parliament approved a bill presented by the right-wing government coalition that stipulates a ban on the wearing of headscarves in primary schools in Austria.

At the time, Sebastian Kurz showed his strict stance against immigrants, and warned his country's government about them, describing them as parallel societies, and stressing that covering the heads of young girls is something that should not have a place in Austria.

This law was passed amid criticism from left-wing parties and Islamic organizations in the country.

 

Operation Luxor

With all of the foregoing, the worst for the Muslims was yet to come, as more severe repressive measures were waiting for them.

On November 9, 2020, the Austrian security services, under the direct order of the People's Party government, under the leadership of Kurz (at the time), launched one of the fiercest operations against Associations and individuals affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Austria.

The number of places that were stormed throughout the country, 60 sites, and the number of arrests reached 30 Muslim activists and academics, in what was known as Operation Luxor.

On August 5, 2021, the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe, which oversees Muslim communities and activities, criticized the Austrian security service's use of disproportionate force against known people and their treatment as terrorists.

Excessive force from the Austrian police during the raids left its mark on members of a Muslim family that were subjected to violence by the security forces.

More than 10 children began receiving psychological treatment after the operations, while the 30 people who were arrested and their families faced financial difficulties because their bank accounts were banned.

Commenting on the developments in the situation against the Muslim community in Austria, Ahmed Zaidan, imam of one of the Islamic centers in Europe, said: “The only heaven for Islamic centers in light of the attacks of far-right governments and parties is the judiciary and civil human rights associations in Europe.”

He continued, in statements to Al-Estiklal: “The Austrian Court verdict eased a lot of pressures on Muslims, but he did not resolve the matter in the face of the rising waves of hate and racism against them.”

“Islamic Associations must unite with their various orientations, launch awareness campaigns and defend the right of Muslims to exist and worship, and to work against the channels that feed Islamophobia in Europe, which are financed by well-known parties,” he added.

Zaidan stated that “Islam is indeed the second religion in the European continent, and many European countries are working to coexist with Muslims, who have become a powerful pressure force, but they lack unity and organization, and if they did, their reality would be completely different from what it is currently.”