Far-rightist calls memorial to Nigerian asylum seeker a "provocation" to Viennese

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – AP World News via NewsEdge Corporation: A member of the far-right Freedom Party lashed out Monday at Vienna officials for letting a memorial to a Nigerian asylum seeker who died in police custody be displayed in the city center.

The 3-meter (10-foot) stone sculpture commemorating Marcus Omofuma – who died after police bound and gagged him as he was being deported in 1999 – was placed near the Vienna State Opera without the city's permission on Oct. 10 by activist-sculptor Ulrike Truger.

Truger said she wanted to raise awareness of the plight of asylum seekers in Austria by placing her statue amid symbols of great wealth, including the opera and the renowned Sacher Hotel.

"It's a symbol of the great rift dividing the rich and poor," she said recently.

The city decided that the statue could continue being displayed, but that it would be moved next week to a spot in front of the nearby MuseumsQuartier, also a prominent location, the Austria Press Agency reported Monday, citing a city official.

Johann Herzog, a city council member who belongs to the Freedom Party – best-known for its controversial former leader, Joerg Haider – released a statement denouncing the city's decision as insulting and "illegal."

It's a "provocation" to city residents "who are confronted daily on the streets of Vienna by the hustle of black African drug dealers posing as 'asylum seekers,"' Herzog said in the statement.

Herzog also condemned the Social Democratic-run city government for what he called a political decision, noting that his party had unsuccessfully campaigned to raise monuments to victims of communism and to those forced to flee their homes under the Habsburg monarchy.

He also said it set a "dangerous precedent" to eventually grant permission to such memorials after they have been put up illegally.

Omofuma's death provoked a human rights scandal in Austria. Activists regularly cite the case as a symbol of alleged ongoing police brutality and racism in this alpine nation of 8 million.

Omofuma, 25, died on a flight out of the country after police strapped him to his airplane seat and taped his mouth and nose shut.

Last year, a court convicted three policemen of negligent homicide in the case but acquitted them of torture leading to death, which would have been punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The three officers received suspended eight-month sentences.

Last week, the three were further cleared when a medical report was released claiming that heart failure – and not the taping of Omofuma's mouth – caused his death.

Last month, parliament enacted legislation speeding up the process of granting or refusing residency permission to refugees seeking asylum. The United Nations has said it amounts to "among the most restrictive pieces" of legislation within the European Union.

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[11-10-03 at 15:22 EDT, Copyright 2003, The Associated Press, File: h1110105.701]

Story date: 10 Nov 2003
World News