Brutal Stabbing at Vienna's Reumannplatz: Four and a Half Years in Prison

The defendant was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for intentional serious bodily harm. The jury unanimously dismissed the charge of attempted double murder. The verdict is already legally binding.

The presiding judge emphasized the "senselessness of the act" in the reasoning of the judgment. The 22-year-old acted "out of wounded pride." With a sentencing range of two to ten years, the court deemed four and a half years appropriate. Mitigating factors included the 22-year-old's previous good conduct and the fact that "you admitted to the stabbing and did not try to justify it as self-defense," as the presiding judge noted. The two victims were awarded compensation for pain and suffering amounting to 5,390 and 2,130 euros, respectively. Both the 22-year-old and the prosecutor accepted the verdict.

Defendant in Vienna: "Guilty for the Stabbings"

He was "guilty for the stabbings," the defendant had admitted, but denied the intent to kill. His lawyer, Florian Kreiner, stated that his client wanted to "incapacitate" the men.

The trial was a so-called second legal proceeding. The first time, in early October, the then-jurors dismissed the charge after hours of deliberation. They found the 22-year-old guilty of two counts of intentional bodily harm. The originally co-accused 46-year-old father of the young Chechen was granted justified self-defense in a coercive situation. However, the three professional judges - two men and one woman - did not accept these decisions. They set aside the verdict due to the jury's error.

Retrial Without Originally Co-Accused Father

For the retrial, the father was surprisingly no longer charged but summoned as a witness. The prosecution had meanwhile withdrawn the charges against the 46-year-old because they no longer saw any "actual reason for further prosecution" of the man, as stated in the justification for the dismissal.

The 22-year-old was initially allegedly approached about drugs by one of the two Syrians on the afternoon of March 1, 2024, at Reumannplatz. This made him "grumpy," his lawyer noted: "He finds drugs despicable." This led to an altercation, during which the Chechen came off worse, as his opponent allegedly sprayed him with pepper spray and headbutted him. Then the Syrian ran away, the lawyer described.

Brutal Knife Attack at Vienna's Reumannplatz

The young Chechen went home, where he discussed the matter with his father. In the evening, both went to Reumannplatz. When the younger man saw one of the two Syrians again, a fight broke out. Because the Syrians received support from other men and were superior to him, he pulled out his knife, the defendant testified. He stabbed the 21-year-old in the chest: "I did not expect him to die."

He stabbed the 21-year-old in the chest: "I did not expect him to die." When asked about his motives, he replied: "The way he looked at me, I just couldn't control myself." And further: "The way he hurt me, I wanted to hurt him too." When asked why he had a knife with him at all, the defendant answered: "Because Reumannplatz, you know." He always carried the weapon with him, not just on the day of the incident.

According to the statement of the 21-year-old, the defendant personally apologized. The victim and the defendant shook hands and patted each other on the shoulder.

He then moved away towards Quellenplatz. A group of other Syrians allegedly followed him and his father, encircling them armed - partly with iron rods. When an 18-year-old was about to allegedly attack him "in a fighting position," he stabbed again. The witness denied this. According to his statements, he had followed the defendant when the perpetrator suddenly turned around, stopped, and then stabbed the victim. The 18-year-old was in the intensive care unit and was able to leave the hospital after 22 days.

The father testified that he had accompanied his son to "resolve the conflict in a good way," as his son would often enter Reumannplatz. He wanted his son to "be able to walk through the district without problems."

The father explained that the police were not called because, in the past, he had mediated disputes between Chechen and Arab youths.

One of the Victims Resuscitated on the Operating Table

The victims survived, although the blade had severed the younger one's internal thoracic artery and damaged the lung. The critically injured person suffered a circulatory collapse on the operating table after being transferred to a hospital and had no pulse. He was resuscitated thanks to the quick reaction of a surgeon. The 22-year-old inflicted a ten-centimeter deep stab wound on the right anterior chest wall of the second Syrian.

The co-accused father of the young Chechen was originally accused of having held witnesses of the crime at bay with a drawn knife and prevented them from helping the injured. The prosecution withdrew this accusation - apparently under the impression of the evidence results in the first main hearing.

Weapons Ban at Vienna's Reumannplatz Remains in Force

At the end of the evidence proceedings, the defendant assured once again that he did not want to kill anyone. He apologized to everyone present for "wasting their time" with his trial.

Following frequent stabbings in the area around Reumannplatz and Keplerplatz, a weapons ban for this area was enacted last spring. This was recently extended.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.