Interior Ministry dismisses second police trainee over IS remarks

Austria’s Interior Ministry has dismissed a second police trainee after she jokingly discussed joining the Islamic State with a colleague who had already been dismissed, ORF reported.

The first trainee, a 27-year-old woman with roots in Afghanistan who has lived in Austria for about 25 years, was dismissed after reportedly saying that, for religious reasons, she did not want to work with male colleagues to the extent required for the job. Remarks included: “Why don’t we travel abroad together and join the Islamic State?” and “Repeat after me, and you will convert to Islam.”

The State Office for State Protection and Counterterrorism in Styria also investigated the second trainee, aged 23, the newspaper Krone reported on Friday. The two women are said to have exchanged the remarks. The Interior Ministry said there was no evidence in either case to substantiate suspicion of involvement in a criminal organisation or membership of a terrorist organisation.

Federal Police Director Michael Takacs said there was “zero tolerance” for extremism in the police force and that anyone who did not share its values or respect its duties “must go.” FPÖ security spokesperson Gernot Darmann said he was “stunned” by the case.