VIENNA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The number of terrorism-related criminal proceedings and convictions in Austria reached a record level in 2016, Austria Press Agency reported on Monday.
Citing figures provided by the Ministry of Justice, the report said the number of convictions for terror offenses was 49 last year, up from 31 in 2015.
Of this total, 36 people were convicted of participation in a terrorist organization, and seven of either calling for or endorsing terrorist offences.
A total of 73 people were accused of terror-related offences, compared with 57 in 2015. In the years prior this total had not exceeded ten.
The number of related cases worked on by public prosecutors also increased massively, from pre-2014 totals in the range of 60 to 70, increasingly steadily to reach 337 last year.
While no figures relating to a radicalist background was made available by the ministry, it is believed this is the primary cause behind the spike in the numbers, in light of factors such as Islamic State activity following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war.
