VIENNA, Austria
\n\u201cTerrorism\u201d charges against an Austrian academic, Farid Hafez, have been dropped after an Al Jazeera documentary revealed the case was based on false evidence and fabricated accusations.
\nIn an interview with Al Jazeera, Hafez said he was relieved to be no longer living in \u201climbo\u201d more than two years after officers barged into his two-storey home and pointed their guns at him, his wife and two children.
\n\u201cI never knew if the judges would go ahead and really file charges, which I did not believe [they would] at any point in time,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I could also not believe that such a raid could happen.\u201d
\nHafez is best known for an annual report on European Islamophobia and is one of the founders of the Austrian Muslim Youth Association.
\nLooking back, the political scientist said the accusations raised against him were \u201cinsane\u201d and came \u201cout of the blue\u201d.
\nHafez\u2019s apartment was one among some 60 homes of Muslim activists and academics raided in November 2020 as part of what Austria\u2019s interior minister called \u201cOperation Luxor\u201d.
\nThe search warrant alleged that Hafez \u2013 who is of Egyptian origin \u2013 wanted to destroy Egypt and Israel and establish a worldwide Islamic caliphate with Jerusalem as its capital.
\nIn addition to \u201csupporting terrorism\u201d, police accused him of crimes including \u201chostility to the state\u201d and \u201cmoney laundering\u201d.
\nHafez\u2019s bank account was frozen, leaving him unable to pay lawyers or repair the damage caused during the raid.
\nThe academic, who has since relocated to the United States to become a professor at Georgetown University, said many among those targeted by the asset freezes had their lives upended by the loss of financial security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
VIENNA, Austria \u201cTerrorism\u201d charges against an Austrian academic, Farid Hafez, have been dropped after an Al Jazeera documentary revealed the case was based on false evidence and fabricated accusations. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Hafez said he was relieved to be no longer living in \u201climbo\u201d more than two years after officers barged into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-306882","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n