Because of prisoner

Young father spent two months innocently in custody

Touching scenes in the Vienna Landl when the acquitted defendant was able to hug his baby.(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

A few days after the birth of his daughter, the handcuffs clicked on a 31-year-old man in Vienna. The story is hard to believe: the very man who had almost stabbed him to death in 2023 falsely accused the new dad of drug dealing while he was in custody. The Linz public prosecutor's office believed him.

Tears of joy are rare in court. They flowed on Friday in courtroom 32 in Vienna's Landl district. The defendant embraces his wife and two-month-old daughter after the resounding acquittal. Three days after the baby was born, the wife was released from hospital with the little one. At the same time, the handcuffs clicked out of the blue in Vienna-Meidling.

Agonizing weeks in custody followed, and the charges brought by the Linz public prosecutor's office were a nightmare for the accused. The 31-year-old, who had committed a criminal offense in Germany many years ago, was accused solely on the basis of the testimony of his childhood friend.

The accused in handcuffs with his defense lawyer Philipp Wolm(Bild: Gerhard Bartel)

Former boyfriend falsely accused out of jealousy 
"The man imagined that my client was having an affair with his wife," reported defense lawyer Philipp Wolm(www.kw-anwaelte.com) in his plea. The argument ended in January 2023 when the Albanian stabbed the now accused. The "friend" had to stand trial for attempted murder and was sentenced to ten years in prison.

There is not a single piece of evidence, only the allegations of the perpetrator at the time. Anything other than an apology and an acquittal would not be worthy of the rule of law.

Rechtsanwalt Philipp Wolm

Bild: Gerhard Bartel

On Friday, the threatening-looking man from Stein prison will be presented as a witness to corroborate the allegations against his former victim. According to the witness, the young father had given him four kilograms of cocaine. He had resold half of it and consumed the rest himself. "I didn't give him anything. I think he claims it because he is jealous that I have a nice family life," said the accused in despair during the trial.

First months of life without dad
"There is not a single piece of evidence, only the allegations of the perpetrator at the time. Anything other than an apology, because he was innocently in custody, and an acquittal would not be worthy of the rule of law," says Wolm. When Judge Peter Sampt pronounces his verdict, the defendant folds his hands in relief. He storms out of the courtroom to his wife and young daughter - who had to spend the first two months of her life without her dad. The small prison sentence cannot make up for this time.