This case made headlines across Austria: The Upper Austria police went public with a mug shot in July 2020. It shows an elderly man lying on the ground as well as a man and a woman. The pensioner was knocked down on April 20, 2020 in the parking lot of a Rieder supermarket by a 30-year-old man and attacked with kicks. Among other things, the victim suffered a broken forearm. As reported, the perpetrator was then arrested in January 2021.
Yesterday the 30-year-old, who was defended by lawyer Bernhard Oberauer as a procedural assistant, had to answer in the regional court in Ried. The public prosecutor’s office accused the accused of, among other things, the crime of serious bodily harm, coercion and dangerous threats.
“I do not plead guilty,” said the defendant, who has had twelve criminal records and has been in custody since January, at the beginning of his questioning by judge Leonie Paischer. He didn’t want to hurt the man. The dispute was preceded by a dispute at the cash register.
This photo was also used to publicly search for the perpetrator.
Image: LPD OÖ
The memories of it couldn’t be more different. “The pensioner insulted me and my ex-girlfriend as a foreigner and said that Hitler should come back,” said the accused. In the parking lot he noticed a small red knife in the hand of the pensioner, so he pushed him. It was self-defense, so the defendant. “But I’m angry with myself that I didn’t just run away because he wouldn’t have followed me. I didn’t want to hurt him because that’s not my style.”
When the judge asked whether he hadn’t noticed anything about the public, media-effective appeal, the man replied: “Not really, we didn’t talk about it anymore, that was out of the world for us.”
“A cowardly attack from behind”
The 74-year-old victim, who was in Ried to visit the cemetery, reports of a cowardly attack from behind; he has already been operated on twice. “The perpetrator knew exactly how to hit someone from behind.” He did not make any xenophobic statements, he only insisted on maintaining the safety distance. He is anything “other than a Nazi”. The supermarket cashier and another witness said that the defendant had been insulted by the pensioner as a “shit foreigner”, but the word Hitler had not been used.
The man’s arrest started with the ex-girlfriend who was present in the assault on the older man. In court, she stated that the man threatened to kill her, that she had been beaten and, among other things, injured in the head. At some point she wanted to clear the table and reported the incident to the police.
Your ex-boyfriend has become very aggressive. The reason for this was the insults against the pensioner. “I knew that my ex-boyfriend is very aggressive and quick-tempered and wanted to calm the situation down,” said the woman, who repeatedly burst into tears when she gave evidence yesterday. She is currently unable to work due to her mental state.
It has not been proven whether the victim did not have a knife with him. “In addition, the pensioner has asserted that he did not insult my client as a foreigner. According to witness statements, that was the case. It is also unclear whether the attack actually took place from behind,” said defense attorney Oberauer, who argued with his client’s self-defense and around one Acquittal asked. The incriminating statements of the ex-girlfriend could be understood as an “act of revenge” because his client had left the woman, so the defense attorney.
Accused shouted around
After more than five hours of hearing, Judge Paischer announced the verdict. The 30-year-old was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to two and a half years of unconditional imprisonment. “It cannot be determined in any way whether a knife was involved. But one can certainly not speak of self-defense,” said Paischer.
The accused was angry and shouted at the judge: “You have no idea, I don’t care what you say. I don’t know what you have. You have no idea about the law and the system. I’m going in Appeal. We are here in a little shitty village in Ried, in Linz this matter will look completely different if I appeal, “said the defendant while he was being brought back to his prison cell by two prison guards. The defense filed an appeal, the judgment is therefore not final.
Article by
Thomas Streif
Local editor Innviertel
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