Sorwar Alam
25 July 2017•Update: 25 July 2017
By Askin Kiyagan
VIENNA
A Palestinian asylum seeker was sentenced to life for using social media to encourage suicide attacks in Israel, a local court said Monday.
A court in Krems an der Donau located approximately 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of the capital of Vienna, said in a statement the 27-year-old Palestinian was also accused of being a member of the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.
The man, whose name was not disclosed in accordance with Austrian law, was arrested in 2016 at a refugee center in the Widviertel region on several charges, including opposing the state’s authority and slandering a doctor.
He has been in the Josefstadt prison since his arrest last year.
The man served a nine-year prison sentence in Israel and fled to Austria in 2016.
Defense lawyers are appealing the decision.
