According to the indictment, a 35-year-old Romanian gave the police in Pinzgau a wild chase in a minibus in which there were ten Syrian refugees, during which he rammed a police car several times. Two officers fired shots, injuring two Syrians. The confessed defendant received an unconditional prison sentence of nine years.
Cases against police officers dropped
The judgment is not final. Neither public prosecutor Florian Weinkamer nor defense attorney Kurt Jelinek made a statement. The case against the police officers had already been dropped in advance. The public prosecutor accused the Romanian of a number of crimes: smuggling as part of a criminal organization, crimes of intentional endangerment of the public, resistance to state authority, serious bodily harm and damage to property. The Romanian was also convicted of these crimes.
According to the prosecution, the accused wanted to smuggle the refugees from Slovenia to Germany on the night of December 11, 2023. “The Romanian authorities speak of a transnational network, probably organized from Turkey or the Middle East,” the prosecutor explained. The defendant was part of the network. As his behavior showed, the lives of the refugees played no role for him. Neither the icy road nor the shots from the officers’ service weapons and the screams of people could have dissuaded him from driving.
Accomplice in custody
The Romanian driver is said to have received support from three accomplices. Two men are said to have acted as drivers of an advance vehicle and one man is said to have been the organizer of the smuggling. Like the defendant, one of the accomplices is in custody in Salzburg. He was now also charged with smuggling and brought to trial. But because the procedural assistant did not want to waive the statutory preparation period, the procedure was canceled.
The defendant is said to have already smuggled the Syrians into neighboring Bavaria, but the Bavarian officials became aware of the white Renault minibus during a check near Schneizlreuth. The Romanian turned around, drove back to Austria and continued the journey in Pinzgau. Because the German officials had informed their colleagues in Austria in the meantime, a patrol in Pinzgau began tracking the escape vehicle. According to the prosecution, the driver ignored the police officers’ signs to stop and drove away at excessive speed on the B311 towards Saalfelden at 12:30 a.m. on partly icy roads.
30 kilometer escape drive
The escape drive stretched over 30 kilometers. The driver of the minibus is said to have rammed the police car at least three times. During another alleged ramming attempt by the Romanian, the police officer in the passenger seat of the patrol car shot twice at the minibus with his service pistol. As a result, two windows on the driver’s side of the minibus were broken and a 19-year-old refugee was injured in the hand by splinters. According to the prosecution, the police officer fired in self-defense. The shots were fired legally in accordance with the Weapons Use Act.
The tractor vehicle came off the B311 and got stuck in a snowfield. The driver fled on foot. A policewoman from another patrol car, armed with an assault rifle, asked the refugees to get out. According to the investigation, the officer stumbled and a shot was accidentally fired from the rifle and hit the minibus. The projectile went through a window and hit a 27-year-old Syrian man in the head. He was seriously injured. The driver of the getaway vehicle was arrested a short time later.
Attempted murder investigation
The officers were investigated on suspicion of attempted murder. The investigation against the police officer was closed. The proceedings against the policewoman were also ended with a diversion due to negligent bodily harm – namely with the setting of a probationary period and payment of a flat-rate contribution to costs.
For the smuggler ride, 2,500 euros were charged per refugee. Because of his dire financial situation, the Romanian is said to have joined a criminal organization to bring refugees, primarily to Germany, for a fee. In court, the married father of several children said, “I am guilty. I am incredibly sorry.” He should have received 1,500 euros for the tractor ride, but he didn’t get a cent for it. He did not provide any further information on the advice of his defense attorney. “He wanted to make money, then it got out of hand,” said lawyer Jelinek.
“There could have been 10 deaths”
The defense attorney did not accept the private party award of 639 euros as partial compensation and loss of earnings requested by a lawyer for an injured police officer. “There could have been ten dead if he shot the driver,” said Jelinek reproachfully. “And if someone shoots at me, I won’t stand still.”
According to the presiding judge, the defendant has 13 court convictions in Romania, Germany and England. The requirements for a more severe punishment in the event of a relapse are met. Therefore, a sentence of one year to 15 years applies and not from one year to ten years. The penalty of this amount was imposed for general preventive reasons.
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