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Soldier Sentenced To 19 Months In Jail For Getting Swastika Tattooed On His Testicle

Soldier Sentenced To 19 Months In Jail For Getting Swastika Tattooed On His Testicle

The 29-year-old admits he fell into the wrong crowd but is very sorry and embarrassed.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

A soldier in Austria has been sentenced to 19 months in jail for getting a swastika tattooed on his testicle.

The 29-year-old explained to the court in the city of Klagenfurt that he got mixed in with a bad crowd and was previously aligned with the far-right movement.

He left that movement eight years ago, however admitted he grew fond of being anti-establishment.

The court heard him say: "'I just got in with bad company. For us, anything that wasn't allowed was something we gravitated towards, but we all underestimated enormously how much a mistake this was."

The prosecution explained how one night, after the soldier had downed two bottles of whiskey, he got his brother to tattoo the Nazi-era symbol on his scrotum.

Following the procedure, the 29-year-old showed it off at two occasions, once to army colleagues, and another while drunk on the final evening of a military exercise, according to the Daily Mail.

In addition to the swastika on his balls, the soldier was also accused of posting Nazi photos at a Cold War bunker museum, drinking Hitler-branded wine and posting Nazi propaganda online.

He admitted that once authorities started an investigation into his tattoo that he realised that glorifying Nazi culture was 'nonsense'.

He's apologised says he feels embarrassed for his actions, adding: "Other than that, I can't give any reasonable explanation for why I did it."

The soldier said he's stopped drinking heavily due to an assault incident that landed him in jail and he said the tattoo on his testicle is no longer visible.

He's been sentenced to 19 months behind bars for the glorification of Nazism and illegal firearm possession. His lawyer, Franz Zimmermann, has said he will appeal the sentence.

In Austria, it's illegal to revive or glorify organisations resembling the Nazi party thanks to the National Socialism Prohibition Act of 1947. The legislation requires anyone convicted of the offence to spend time in jail.

It was updated in 1992 and also prohibits Holocaust denial and the deliberate belittlement of any Nazi atrocities.

Before that update nearly 30 years ago, there were some courts that were lenient on crimes related to the two above and campaigners advocated for the law to ensure there's consistency across the country.

Featured Image Credit: Wolfmann (Creative Commons)

Topics: News