Herbert Fritz is back from his “vacation with the Taliban”. The 84-year-old right-wing extremist went to Afghanistan in May, according to Austrian media to demonstrate that it was safe, but was subsequently detained by the Taliban. Fritz landed in Qatar on Sunday, reports the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For decades, Fritz has been traveling to dangerous places around the world. According to the Austrian newspaper Der Standard he thus fuels pleas from right-wing movements to send refugees back. Previously, Fritz was one of the founders of the National Democratic Party, which was banned in 1988. The Austrian Constitutional Court said at the time that the party “pursues neo-Nazi objectives.”
It is unclear why the Taliban arrested Fritz. Der Standard writes that the Taliban took him away shortly after he published an article in a right-wing extremist magazine entitled Holiday with the Taliban. But his daughter says according to Kronen Zeitung that Fritz was accused of espionage after having his photo taken with a leader of the Afghan opposition.
Members of the radical right-wing party FPÖ stood up for the elderly extremist. Former politicians of the party traveled to Afghanistan despite advice from the Foreign Office and spoke with Taliban officials there. Party leader Herbert Kickl according to the newspaper Kurier distanced himself from that trip. Member of Parliament Martin Graf later spoke of a “state failure” and called on the government to do more to free Fritz.
In total, Fritz was imprisoned for about 280 days. During that time, Austrian diplomats arranged for him to receive medication and hearing aids.
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