13 years later

Explosion at asylum center: men acquitted

Symbol photo

(Bild: ©Corgarashu - stock.adobe.com)

Three men stood trial more than 13 years later for an explosive device detonated at a refugee shelter in Graz. On Friday night, all of the defendants were acquitted, as none of the three could be proven guilty of the detonation, the jury found. However, two men received sentences for National Socialist reactivation.

The jury decided that none of the three defendants were guilty of the explosive device under Section 3f of the Prohibition Act, but two of them were guilty of Section 3g, which criminalizes National Socialist reactivation.

Prohibited tattoos
Both cases involve tattoos of prohibited symbols. The 29-year-old received a 15-month conditional prison sentence for this, while a second defendant received a two-year conditional prison sentence. The third defendant was acquitted in full. The verdict is not legally binding as the public prosecutor's office did not make a statement.

Explosive device with black powder
On September 11, 2010, a detonation was heard at the entrance to the refugee home in Graz at around 1.40 am. 35 residents and a caregiver were woken from their sleep. A 49-year-old Georgian man fell and injured himself when he went to have a look. There were no other injuries, but according to investigations at the time, the tube- or can-shaped explosive device would have been capable of seriously injuring people. As we know today, the explosive device was packed with black powder.

For 13 years, there was no trace of the suspects. Only a witness in another case claims to have recognized the 29-year-old in the photos. When the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (LVT) questioned the suspect, he confessed. However, he then stated in court that he had been under pressure and believed that he had to prove his innocence. He was unable to do so due to a lack of alibi and therefore confessed to the crime.

Confession withdrawn
On the first day of the trial, the 29-year-old native of Lower Austria surprisingly withdrew his initial confession. He now claims that he was not even at the scene of the crime. He also withdrew his statement that the other two men were also involved. However, the 29-year-old repeatedly became entangled in contradictions during questioning by Judge Sabine Anzenberger. Some of the men were also charged with National Socialist reactivation.

One of them, for example, wore a tattoo of the Black Sun - a banned symbol - in public during fights for several years. The public prosecutor's office only extended the charges against one of the three for this tattoo on Thursday.

Missing original pictures
Since the start of the trial in December, the judge had further investigations carried out to gather evidence, but a forensic report of the available photos of the suspect from a surveillance camera could not be presented due to the lack of original images. "The LVT was unable to provide these," said Anzenberger. It was also not possible to compare the size of the person in the pictures because the bench in the background, which was supposed to serve as a reference, has since been torn down. According to the judge, an original sound carrier could not be found at the LVT either.