Defendant denies

Snack bar on fire: Was it the drug mafia?

(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

A Croatian man (25) was charged with arson on Wednesday in Salzburg Provincial Court: he is said to have set fire to a restaurant on behalf of a gang. In the background it is said to be about drug debts. But he denies it in court: "I wasn't even in Austria".

It was November 20, 2021, around 3 am. A snack bar in the Himmelsreich district of Walser was engulfed by flames. The fire shot meters high into the sky - almost 90 firefighters battled it. The snack stand was ablaze. It soon became clear that it was arson. But nothing happened for months after that.

"Until new evidence came to light during a drug trial in May 2022," explained the public prosecutor at the trial on Wednesday in Salzburg Regional Court. A witness for the prosecution, who was once active in a Slovenian drug gang, had come clean and provided details - including the alleged arsonist, the defendant (25).

Accused: "Was there in the hospital in Belgrade"
The gang leader is said to have demanded the collection of debts from a man whose sister ran the snack bar. As no money was forthcoming, it is said that the fire was set. "I didn't do that. I wasn't even in Salzburg," the defendant, who has previous convictions in Spain and Slovenia, defends himself. And he adds: "I wasn't even here, I've never been to Austria. I was in hospital in Belgrade at the time." He was hospitalized for four days due to a hand injury.

Police officers arrested him in Slovenia at the end of December 2023. He was transferred to Klagenfurt in February and is now in custody. The judge asked why the witness incriminated him: "It's all lies, I don't understand it either. Maybe he wants to save himself." The judge adjourned the trial to obtain confirmation from the Serbian hospital.