Coercive acts
The NPM doubted that the decision of the Constitutional Court of Austria is
applicable in this case. Because the meaning of the abbreviation “A.C.A.B.”
and thus the question of whether the use thereof is acceptable and covered by
the right to the freedom of speech is, according to the Constitutional Court of
Austria, closely related to the problematic relationship between the police and
the fans. Said court went into great detail on this in its decision. In the case
in question, the banners contained completely different problematic symbols
and statements. In the opinion of the NPM, all types of banners should not
be tolerated, particularly if they possibly contain neo-Nazi symbols. For
this reason, the NPM recommended that in the future the executive should
examine, when considering the right to the freedom of speech, whether there
is a breach of decency pursuant to the Vienna Security Law.
Police operation too late
in escalation
On the last point of criticism where it was possible for fans to penetrate the
VIP area and injure three law enforcement officers, the Federal Ministry of
the Interior stated that the police had at first observed how Rapid fans had
climbed over the fence out of their sector into the adjoining sector. At this
point in time, the responsibility for managing the situation was still with the
stewards. Police intervention was not yet required. Only from the point when
the fans had penetrated the VIP area was it clear for the police that the other
guests were in imminent danger and the stewards were no longer able to take
the relevant measures.
The NPM criticised that the police had waited too long to intervene and had
only become active from the time when the VIP area was penetrated. A risk
of danger to the guests and the injuries of the law enforcement officers could
have been avoided if the police had acted sooner.
X
At high-risk football games, the executive should make use of a search warrant in order
to prevent fans from bringing pyrotechnics into the stadium.
X
Banners with questionable content should be critically scrutinised by the executive
when considering the right to the freedom of speech and be examined with respect to a
possible breach of decency.
2.8.6
Forced returns
A commission observed a contact meeting in Salzburg Puch correctional
institution prior to a forced return to Tunis.
Mixing the roles of
return advisor and legal
advisor
169
The commission criticised that at this meeting of the Association of Human
Rights Austria (Verein Menschenrechte Österreich), whose duty is to act
as a return advisor, an employee of the association appeared as a type of
“representative” of the person awaiting forced return. The employee of the
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