Vienna (OTS) – The humanitarian aid association Rahma Austria held a press conference in Vienna on Monday morning, February 12th, 2024, to draw attention to its persecution by the judiciary and specifically the Graz public prosecutor’s office.
Rahma Austria has been doing charitable work in the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa since 2006 and has since implemented many important projects. For example, numerous wells, schools and hospitals were built, container villages for earthquake victims or a desalination plant were built, and thousands of orphans and refugees were enabled to survive in a dignified manner. The association helps in war, disaster and other crisis areas in a total of 20 countries and finances its projects through donations. Rahma Austria works exclusively on a humanitarian basis and is not a political organization.
Nevertheless, this aid organization has also come under suspicion as part of “Operation Luxor” of supporting terrorism with its aid projects. It obviously played a role that Rahma Austria is considered a Muslim association and receives the most support from the Muslim community, although its help benefits everyone who needs it, regardless of nationality, religion or beliefs. The “Operation Luxor” proceedings were discontinued a year ago and were also criticized in the public media for the fact that apparently completely innocent organizations and individuals were suspected of terrorism.
As the lawyers Andreas Schweitzer and Leonhard Krejcik as well as club chairman Taher Hassan told the press, the Graz public prosecutor’s office obviously did not take note that the proceedings against Rahma Austria were dropped and are now trying to criminalize the club in a roundabout way and make its work impossible .
Financial and property crimes are being alleged in order to be able to continue taking action against a humanitarian aid organization and to investigate alleged “abnormalities in the accounting”. As part of an audit procedure, around 700 Rahma donors were visited and interrogated by officials from the finance, executive or LSE (state offices for state security and combating extremism). As those affected reported, they were visited by the police in the early hours of the morning and asked, among other things, why they supported Rahma Austria. The aim is obviously to intimidate the supporters, most of whom have a migrant background, thereby defaming Rahma and preventing him from doing his work. So far, there is no known comparable action against donors from other aid organizations in Austria.
This is not only damaging to reputation and business, it also makes conditions more difficult for the many needy people who are supported by Rahma. Since these investigations, Rahma Austria has lost many donors because the association was slandered in the press as criminal and even terrorist. It is suggested to them that they have supported a terrorist organization with their donations. Because of these allegations, several banks have also ended their business relationships with Rahma and closed the accounts.
As lawyer Schweitzer emphasized, it is also striking that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which is not responsible for this, is investigating the recently raised financial and property crimes, even though the investigations into alleged money laundering and terrorist financing were stopped long ago. The aim of this financial audit is obviously to circumvent the blocking effect of the discontinued proceedings in order to be able to prove the alleged terrorist financing, said Schweitzer.
At the end of the press conference, a representative of the organization “Not In Our Name” commented on the action against Rahma Austria and said that it was no coincidence that donors to Catholic aid organizations had never been interrogated in a similar way and that this unique approach had a racist cause, namely due to anti-Islamic prejudices. “Not In Our Name” is an initiative founded by Jews and joined by many people from different communities. The initiative expressed its solidarity with Rahma Austria and particularly emphasized the importance of the humanitarian aid that the association is currently providing in the Gaza Strip. It is therefore also noticeable that aid activities are being prevented now, of all times, during the acute emergency in the Gaza Strip, thereby exacerbating the misery of the Palestinians.
Questions & Contact:
Austrian mercy
office@rahma-austria.at
069911499499