Late arrest

Politician threatened: Viennese (27) is committed

It is uncertain whether the Federal President and Chancellor were aware of the threats.

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH/DIETMAR STIPLOVSEK, Krone KREATIV)

A 27-year-old Viennese man threatened to attack top politicians. Despite this, the man walked around free for a long time. The handcuffs clicked only because he didn't show up for his trial in May. It was high time, as it turned out after an expert opinion by court psychiatrist Siegfrid Schranz - who found the man to be seriously mentally ill and highly dangerous. The trial was finally held on Thursday. 

The 27-year-old, who had threatened to kill Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) with hate e-mails, among other things, had not appeared for his trial in the Vienna Regional Court in May. At the time, it was not entirely clear that the accused was still free after all that he was accused of by the Vienna public prosecutor's office.

Threats increased
According to the indictment, he sent several emails from Venezuela to a police station in Vienna in February 2024. These emails stated, for example, that he would "take revenge and break the bastards' necks. It will end in murder". Back in Vienna, the threats against politicians and officials increased. However, the man with a criminal record was finally arrested not because he was dangerous, but because he had skipped his trial. 

The prognosis is extremely unfavorable, the danger level high.

Gerichtsgutachter Siegfried Schranz

On Thursday, he was brought before the Vienna Provincial Court. And things sound very different there. The forensic psychiatrist Siegfried Schranz, who had been appointed in the meantime, confirms that the threatener has a serious and lasting mental illness: the man suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and a combined personality disorder: "The prognosis is extremely unfavorable, the danger level is high." There is a high probability that he will act out the content at some point. "Because he is under so much pressure and he thinks he has no other choice."

Defendant wants to involve an international court
It also quickly becomes clear during the trial that the man is not doing well. He confessed to the crimes. He had been thrown off course by divorce, burnout, depression and debt. "What they are doing here is outrageous. You should be ashamed of yourself" are the first sentences he speaks during the trial, looking at the judge. He can only give a vague answer as to why he wrote the emails during his trip to Venezuela.

A minister named Maria and an alleged character reference sent from Austria to Venezuela, which falsely claimed that he beat women, had played a role in the anger that had built up inside him: "I was very angry." Several times during the trial, he threatened to take the case to the international court and put the Senate behind bars for 20 years. The man's mood changed several times during the trial. Sometimes he is loud and agitated, then again he says gently and quietly: "I'm sorry that I molested people." 

Committed to an institution
After 90 minutes, the defendant, who was of sound mind at the time of the crime, is sentenced to twelve months in prison. Due to his dangerousness, the Viennese is also placed in a forensic therapeutic center.