VIENNA COURT SEES NO TERRORISM PLOT AGAINST US EMBASSY

UNCLAS VIENNA 000493

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/AGS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER AU
SUBJECT: VIENNA COURT SEES NO TERRORISM PLOT AGAINST US EMBASSY


1. (U) Summary: A Vienna court on April 8 cleared a 42-year-old
Bosnian defendant of charges of plotting a bomb attack against the
U.S. Embassy in Vienna in October 2007. The court sentenced him to
15 months in jail for illegal possession of explosives, document
forgery, and slander. Explaining her verdict, the judge pointed to
the numerous contacts the man had made with embassy security
personnel prior to the incident and argued that the defendant's
behavior was "not typical" of someone plotting a bomb attack. The
verdict may be appealed by the defense. End summary.


2. (U) Dismissing charges by the state prosecutor and police
investigators, a Vienna court on April 8 acquitted Bosnian national
Asim Cejvanovic of the main charge of plotting a bomb attack inside
the premises of the U.S. Embassy in Vienna October 1, 2007. At the
same time, the court found the defendant guilty of illegal
importation and possession of "war materials"; forging documents
(making a fake passport); and slandering a second suspect who turned
out to be innocent. The court sentenced the defendant to a 15-month
prison term for the three offenses. Cejvanovic so far has served 6
months in pre-trial detention.


3. (U) Cejvanovic was arrested October 1 after embassy guards found
his backpack filled with grenades, plastic explosives and metal
pieces. He briefly fled the premises, but was caught shortly after
dropping the backpack in the street. It did not explode and no one
was injured. Authorities later said the device was not rigged to go
off and that Cejvanovic had received psychiatric care in the past.


4. (U) Cejvanovic, a Bosnian national, came to Austria in 1993, but
returned to Bosnia a year later to participate in the civil war and
was subsequently wounded. After being air lifted by the Red Cross
to Austria in 1995, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress
syndrome. His defense lawyer said the accused had evidently tried
to "provide" the war material he had imported from the Balkans to
the U.S. Embassy. On the first day of the trial in February 2008,
the defendant said he had important information about Wahabi
extremists from informants in Bosnia that was important for the
U.S., suggesting he had wanted to "offer" this information to the
U.S.


5. (U) The judge averred that there was insufficient evidence to
prove Cejvanovic was planning a bomb attack on the embassy. She
noted that the defendant had made repeated email and telephone
contact with embassy security officials prior to the incident, and
had also given detailed personal information about himself and his
wife to embassy officials. This, the judge reasoned, was "not a
typical strategy for somebody who tries to enter the U.S. embassy to
detonate a bomb."

Kilner