"Hate speech" in Gruabn

Investigation against “whipper-in” closed

Thousands of fans gathered in the Gruabn before the Cup derby

(Bild: Pail Sepp, Krone KREATIV)

After the scandal at the Graz Cup derby last year, the "whipper-in" from the Gruabn can breathe a sigh of relief: there are no criminal charges against the Sturm fan. His lawyer Raimund Hofmann spoke to the "Krone".

"All the hatred we feel, all the hatred we carry inside us, we're letting it out today!" - Those were the words spoken just over a year ago before the derby scandal in the Gruabn in Graz. Thousands of fans cheered the so-called pre-singer, applauded and filmed his speech. The scenes then escalated and, as is well known, there were acts of violence.

Some of them have already had repercussions in court. A non-appealable indictment relating to the attack with iron bars on a mobile GAK fan store has recently been issued. The "whipper-in" was investigated for "serious communal violence", formerly "breach of the peace".

In addition, the agitator was reprimanded by the ÖFB: The committee for prevention and stadium bans already cited him to Vienna in the summer, where he was given a "yellow card". In the event of another offense, he faces a six-month nationwide stadium ban.

In hindsight, my client naturally regrets his choice of words, which arose out of emotion. However, he never intended to incite others to commit a criminal offense.

Anwalt Raimund Hofmann

And he can now also breathe a sigh of relief from a criminal law perspective. Because, as Christian Kroschl, spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Graz, confirms, the investigations against him have been dropped. Through his lawyer Raimund Hofmann, the victim spoke to the "Krone": "In retrospect, my client naturally regrets his choice of words, which arose out of emotion. However, he never intended to incite others to commit a criminal offense. My client has not yet decided whether he would like to appear as a chorister again."