22-year-old convicted

False testimony: “Was locked in the trunk”

A young woman testified to the Vienna police that she had been locked in a car trunk and raped.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com, Sophie Pratschner)

Because a 28-year-old man allegedly locked her in his car trunk and raped her, the man was in custody - innocent. Extensive investigations revealed this. Now the 22-year-old herself is on trial for defamation and making false statements. The question of motive remains even after the verdict has been announced.

"Victims must tell the truth. Especially in the case of sexual offenses, it's usually testimony against testimony. We have to rely on the victim's statements," the public prosecutor reminded the court in her closing statement in the trial against a 22-year-old woman.

"Grabbed from behind and locked in the trunk"
At the beginning of October 2023, the young Viennese woman filed a complaint of rape - and also gave a name. A 28-year-old man, whom she had met shortly beforehand, is said to have intercepted her at night: "I was grabbed from behind and locked in the trunk." A few minutes later, he punched her twice in the face in a meadow and raped her.

28-year-old spent two weeks in custody
The investigation was opened and the alleged perpetrator was remanded in custody. However, it turned out that cell phone analyses, surveillance videos and the victim's statement did not match the story at all. But she clings to it in tears in the Vienna provincial court. "He was the perpetrator, I'm one hundred percent sure," she cries in the dock.

But his alibi and the route-time diagram that was drawn up later also contradict this accusation. After two weeks, the 28-year-old was released. He uses his witness summons for the trial: "I found out about the compensation. It's a ridiculous amount. I think 20 or 25 euros a day. Is freedom really worth so little?" The man also speculates: "There are only two options as to why she's testifying: she wants to hide it because it's someone from her circle of friends or because she's already in so deep with the court."

Whatever happened to you, it didn't happen to you in this place and at this time.

Richter Stefan Erdei konfrontiert die Angeklagte

Judge Stefan Erdei, the public prosecutor and her own defense lawyer repeatedly give the Viennese woman the chance to set the record straight. "We have tried everything possible to clear up a crime that supposedly happened to you," the prosecutor finally concedes in the end.

One and a half years' conditional imprisonment
"I have the impression that something happened to you. But I have no clues as to what it is. It's definitely not what you said to the police," said Judge Stefan Erdei, sentencing the young woman to 18 months' conditional imprisonment for defamation and making false statements. The 22-year-old accepts the sentence despite her denial of responsibility.