Austrian authorities to remember victims of terrorist attack in 2020

Austrian authorities plan on Tuesday to remember the victims of the terrorist attack in Vienna on November 2, 2020.

In St Rupert’s Church, President Alexander Van der Bellen, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, as well as National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka and Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, among others, plan to take part in a service to remember the four dead and the more than 20 injured.

Young musicians, who were practising in the church near the crime scene at the time, are expected to provide the music at the event in the late afternoon.

Other memorial services are to take place across the country.

On November 2, 2020, a 20-year-old former convict, who was a sympathizer of the Islamic State militia, went on a rampage in a popular Viennese neighbourhood, killing four and injuring more than 20. The perpetrator was shot dead by police.

On the anniversary of the attack, victims’ lawyers are demanding apologies from the state and an admission of investigative mishaps.

“We see clear misconduct from the authorities,” lawyer Lukas Bittighofer told dpa. He represents the mother of a then 24-year-old German student who was shot dead.

Since the attack, an investigating commission has found mistakes in the run-up to the crime.

Investigators had been aware of a meeting between the perpetrator and other Islamists, as well as his attempt to buy ammunition. However, the public prosecutor’s office was not informed.

At the end of September, the government set up a compensation fund with 2.2 million euros (2.55 million dollars) for terror victims. But that was not enough, said lawyer Karl Newole. “Nobody has said: We are sorry.”

Source: DPA International