In November 2018, activists occupied an empty building in Vienna. They called their new house “Nele”. The occupation has been evicted after three weeks. There was a massive presence of police, including a lifting ramp, an emergency air cushion from the fire department and helicopters.
16 of the evicted people refused the ID control by the police and have been arrested. Two have been identified nonetheless, one other was put into custody for several months.
One of the two identified persons, who stayed on the pitched roof got a letter demanding a payment of 3808 €. The claim is that the person put themselves in danger by climbing the roof; hence is responsible to pay for the overblown police operation.
When the “Sicherheitspaket” (safety package) became law on may 25, 2018, in Austria, the §92a was updated. Because of the new interpretation of §92a SPG, it’ s now possible that people who cause a police operation can be obliged to pay for its costs if they bring themselves in danger.
Especially that the authority to decide, whether a person is in danger or not lies within the police makes this new way of interpreting the law vulnerable for misuse against all kinds of social or environmental activism. Simply people blocking a street in protest, everything could be affected by this new interpretation of the law. [Read More]
Vienna: Still lovin´squatting! Action in solidarity with squats! Smash §92a!
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