PKK member in Feldkirch sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment
A 61-year-old Turkish national was convicted at Feldkirch Regional Court of PKK membership and financing of terrorism. The total custodial sentence rises to four and a half years.
Guilty verdict in Feldkirch: 61-year-old convicted of PKK activities
Feldkirch Regional Court has convicted a 61-year-old Turkish national of membership in a terrorist organisation and financing of terrorism to two and a half years imprisonment, the court announced on Wednesday. According to Google News AT — Crime (de), the verdict is not yet legally binding.
The man is currently serving a two-year sentence in Innsbruck for serious coercion, a weapons offence and drug trafficking. The new guilty verdict increases his total custodial time to four and a half years.
In the court's assessment, the defendant collected money for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) over many years and recruited personnel. In his judgment, the presiding judge acknowledged that the Kurd had experienced injustice and suffering in his homeland. However, this did not justify supporting PKK abductions, murders and other crimes — it only perpetuated the spiral of violence.
The defendant largely pleaded guilty during the trial. He admitted to being a member of a PKK association in Vorarlberg for 17 years and said he regretted this. He also admitted to having procured money and personnel for the organisation for years — but as a subordinate member, not independently.
According to the indictment, during his police interrogation he had originally stated that he had collected at least 100,000 euros for the PKK and recruited up to 150 members and fighters. In court, he described these statements as a misunderstanding: the entire association had generated 100,000 euros, his personal contribution was only around 5,000 euros. He had not recruited anyone — he had merely organised association events and was essentially a sympathiser.
For membership in a terrorist organisation, Austrian criminal law provides for a sentence of up to ten years.
The PKK has been in armed conflict with the Turkish state since 1984 and is designated as a terrorist organisation in Turkey, the EU and the USA. In 2025 it decided on its dissolution and disarmament after its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan had publicly demanded this. Öcalan has been in Turkish custody for high treason since 1999.
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)