Clear acquittal

Prosecution: Martyrdom of a pregnant woman (18) in Vienna

The defendant waits in the corner for his trial.

(Bild: Anja Richter)

According to the public prosecutor's office, it is hard to believe what an 18-year-old woman who was expecting a child had to go through in Vienna. Her 22-year-old partner allegedly used massive violence against the woman for months, abused her and locked her up. During the trial in Vienna's regional court, the man pleads "not guilty". And in the course of the trial, contradictions in the alleged victim's statements come to light.

What kind of ordeal did a then 18-year-old woman have to go through in Vienna in 2023 when she was pregnant with her child? The allegations made by the Vienna public prosecutor's office are serious. But do they correspond to the facts? The trial in Vienna's Landl district was supposed to clarify this on Tuesday. And it quickly became clear: it certainly didn't happen the way the indictment says. The man had been in custody since June and was innocent.

Prosecutor: "Driven by an addiction to control"
The case history: The victim met a Slovakian man four years her senior and they moved in together in Vienna-Penzing. Shortly afterwards, the young woman became pregnant. According to the public prosecutor, her partner was "driven by an addiction to control", which quickly led to arguments. Which allegedly degenerated over time. 

"He quickly began to use massive violence against her. In almost daily attacks," the public prosecutor reported to the senate of lay judges. According to the indictment, he first forbade her to move freely in the apartment and to leave the apartment without his company. "She was not allowed to go to the toilet or get a glass of water on her own," the prosecutor explains. When they went out together, he forced her to look at the floor. He is said to have destroyed her cell phone. 

According to the prosecutor, the man allegedly choked the victim every day, sometimes to the point of unconsciousness. He allegedly hit her with objects, including a belt, and threw things at her.

Burning resin on baby's belly
In August 2023, when the 18-year-old was six months pregnant, he allegedly dropped a burning piece of cannabis resin on her stomach. The victim suffered a burn on her navel. As if that were not enough, the accused allegedly stabbed the pregnant woman several times in the legs with nail scissors. He also allegedly hit the woman's legs with a cable and cut her thigh with a kitchen knife.  

"He regarded the victim as his property," said the prosecutor, "He also demanded sexual intercourse almost every day." According to the indictment, the Slovakian forced the pregnant woman to have sex in numerous attacks. If the woman refused, he is said to have punched her with his fists until she allowed sexual intercourse to take place. 

It is fictitious. The woman is obsessed with the defendant and wanted him back at all costs.

Verteidiger Florian Horak

Defendant: "It's fictitious"
Even before the start of the trial, the defendant appears upset and directs an insult at a female photographer present. During the trial, he pleads "not guilty". The woman had scratched herself, he had not forced her to have sex. "It's fictitious. The woman is obsessed with the accused and wanted him back at all costs," said his defense lawyer Florian Horak in his plea. The relationship had only lasted a short time and he hadn't even known that she was pregnant. He had also been living in Slovenia during the period in question. 

"Why should I be jealous when there are 1,000 other girls?", the defendant said during the trial. While the woman is questioned separately by the judge, he follows the young woman's statements in courtroom 25 via video transmission. He sits on the bench in front of his defense lawyer and smiles at the woman's descriptions throughout, shaking his head. When she says that she went to him after the birth, which according to the prosecutor was an emergency Caesarean section, he nods in agreement. "I was emotionally dependent," she says, explaining this unusual step. Especially as hematomas had been found at the hospital. 

Woman becomes entangled in contradictions
During the trial, the woman confirmed that she had inflicted injuries on herself when she was 14. She had received psychiatric treatment at the time. In addition, the witness becomes increasingly entangled in contradictions to earlier statements or relativizes them. Judge Daniel Schmitzberger then confronts the woman with an earlier conviction, where she had apparently pretended to have been abducted and imprisoned. 

The jury's verdict is swift: the acquittal is final. The slandered man was released.