Austrian court sentences Hamas member to life in prison
The unnamed 27-year-old terrorist is sentenced after Israeli and Austrian authorities uncovered evidence the man was trying to recruit West Bank operatives to carry out grenade attacks in Israel.
The man, whose name cannot be published under Austrian law, was reportedly released from prison in Israel in 2011 as part of the deal to release IDF hostage Gilad Shalit.
He was arrested again last July, this time at an asylum center in the Lower Austria town of Gmünd, after attempting to recruit West Bank Arabs to carry out grenade attacks in Jerusalem.
Israeli and Austrian intelligence services and state prosecutors are believed to have cooperated to prosecute the case, at the request of officials in Vienna.
Israeli investigators shared information with their Austrian counterparts, including testimony from the interrogations of four Palestinians from the West Bank who are believed to have been planning attacks in Israel as part of the cell headed by the suspect in Austria.
Austrian media reported the man denied the charges and said he would appeal the conviction. But he also reportedly told jurors that he was “proud to be part of Hamas."
