Radical Islamist ‘Hate Books’ Found in Austrian Prison Library

Authorities in Austria discovered a number of radical Islamist “hate books” in a prison library leading to fears Muslim inmates are being actively radicalised by hate preachers.

The discovery of Islamist hate literature in the library at the Korneuburg prison in Austria has raised the spectre of Islamic radicalisation in the country’s prisons. The book, which is written in Cyrillic script, is apparently not the only piece of radical Islamist literature to be found in the Austrian prison system, Kronen Zeitung reports.

Justice Minister Wolfgang Brandstetter said there have been at least 30 radical Islamist books found in prison libraries which were subsequently removed.

Since 2010, responsibility for the stocking of Islamic texts in prison libraries has been with the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGÖ), but after the discovery, the government has decided to bring in a different organisation.

The IGGÖ has been criticised in the past for participating in an anti-Israel demonstration in 2014 which contained overtly anti-Semitic signs and posters.

Justice Minister Brandstetter said there must be a “zero tolerance” for Salafist ideas in the prison system. “Such a find is counter to all our efforts in the fight against radicalisation in prison, so we must, of course, draw consequences,” he said.

IGGiÖ President Ibrahim Olgun hit back at Brandstetter saying: “Hysteria and panic-making are counterproductive,” and added: “We acknowledge that a mistake has been made, and we have taken the necessary measures to avoid such incidents in the future.”

Islamic radicalisation in prisons across Europe has become an issue for many governments. In France, it was recently reported that a pair of inmates were not only radicalised within a prison but were plotting a terror attack to be committed after their release.

The pair had even managed to smuggle in mobile phones with which they covertly communicated with members of Islamic State to coordinate their terror plot.

Austria has been one of the countries that have been the most effective on banning the distribution of radical Islamist literature. Last year, the government banned the distribution of the Quran by a known extremist group.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com