Syrian (19) denies

Attempted murder trial at Reumannplatz in Vienna

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Flashpoint Reumannplatz Vienna: On March 17, a 19-year-old Syrian allegedly tried to kill an elderly Viennese man. In court, he is now blaming a friend. The background to the bloody deed is said to be the gang wars in Vienna-Favoriten. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

At the end of March, a series of stabbings rocked Vienna's Reumannplatz. The first one on March 17 is now the subject of the large jury courtroom in Vienna's regional court. The courtroom is guarded by numerous police officers for the trial. The background to the knife attack is likely to be the gang war raging in Vienna-Favoriten - between Syrians, Afghans and Chechens.

"Victim showed civil courage"
The 21-year-old victim had been out for ice cream with his partner on the evening of the day of the attack and later saw a group of men insulting and threatening a young woman. "The victim showed civil courage and intervened," said the public prosecutor. The now accused Syrian then pursued the "Chechen" - as he calls the victim - with a knife and inflicted several knife cuts. The most fatal injury: a 37-centimeter-long cut on his thigh. 

Defendant denies knife attack
Even when the 21-year-old fell to the ground, the 19-year-old did not let go of him and kicked him, cutting him again. Probably assuming that the victim belonged to a hostile Chechen gang. However, the young man was born in Austria and only has Bosnian roots. Fortunately, his life was never in danger. For the public prosecutor, however, it was the Syrian's "inner side of the crime" that counted and this was aimed at attempted murder.

The 19-year-old vehemently denied this in front of the jury. And even more: he was not the one who had stabbed. A friend had grabbed the knife and even told him about it after the crime. His defense lawyer Wolfgang Haas therefore demanded an acquittal of attempted murder. 

Machete theft before the bloody deed
However, the knife attack at Reumannplatz is not the only thing the Syrian is accused of. Two days earlier, he had allegedly committed a robbery with a machete. He has also been charged with making dangerous threats and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The 19-year-old faces up to 20 years in prison under the Youth Criminal Code. Because the court now wants to find the man whom the Syrian had brought into play as the actual perpetrator, the trial will be adjourned to October 2.

At the same time, a 28-year-old man was stabbed to death by an unknown man in the Favoritenstraße area on March 17. Also in March, an argument escalated at Reumannplatz in which a 32-year-old man was stabbed deeply in the thigh. On May 24, a police officer was attacked by a Jordanian (41) on Keplerplatz. Only the stab protection vest that the officer was wearing saved him from serious injury. A weapons ban zone has been in force in the area since March 30.