VZCZCXRO7453
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHVI #0493 1001323
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091323Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9977
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES

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