A man who used an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler as the greeting on his cellphone answering service went on trial on Thursday in Austria, where such statements are a crime.
The 20-year-old defendant, whose name was not released in line with privacy laws, was being tried in the province of Tyrol, where police accidentally came across his phone message in 2004 when they called to question him about a burglary.
Prosecutors said the man had downloaded the slogan from the internet and saved it on his cell phone as a message greeting callers when he was unable to answer. It said: ”I swear unswerving loyalty to Adolf Hitler! I swear absolute obedience! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!”
The defendant testified on Thursday that the download was a ”spontaneous act” and that he did not fully embrace the meaning of the oath.
He faces a fine if convicted under a law that makes Nazi propaganda a crime in Austria. — Sapa-AP