"Krone" guest commentary

New prohibition law

Christian Baha is a stock market expert and founded Austria's first stock exchange terminal in 1993, which supplies data in real time. In 1996, he established the world's first hedge fund for private investors. Baha has always pursued the vision of making funds for wealthy individuals accessible to smaller investors.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

The second-highest terror alert level has been in force in Austria since the fall of 2023. Despite this, many citizens have the feeling that our law enforcement agencies are powerless in the face of Islamist terror. "The dangerous people should be thrown out," posted a Krone reader in response to my latest column about the "Island of the Unseen". In fact, the authorities are keeping around 650 Islamist individuals under observation in Austria. Our highest-ranking counter-terrorism officer, DSN chief Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, speaks of a three-digit number of high-risk threats who show a potential willingness to use violence. Reader "nene50" commented: "How about deportation and, until then, preventive detention? If the laws don't allow it, then you just have to enact the appropriate ones." That hits the nail on the head: we need tougher laws and harsher penalties.

Basically, we need a new law banning everything to do with the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). With all the consistency that was once enacted against Nazis. We have long known that young terrorists are fascinated by IS. Every single IS symbol, every IS writing, every IS video and every glorification of IS must lead to merciless prison sentences. Dangerous individuals must be closely monitored by all means and, if necessary, arrested or deported. In fact, only strict laws can protect us from violent crime and assassins.