During hospital stay

Prisoner escaped, official fibbed about the course of events

The accused prison guard with his lawyer (left) in Vienna.

(Bild: APA, Anja Richter © Daniel Scharinger)

The escape of a prisoner suspected of terrorism during hospital treatment caused a major alarm in Vienna on February 2. The prison officer who accompanied the 19-year-old to the examination was so embarrassed by the incident that he falsely recorded it - which is why he ended up before a lay jury on Friday for defamation and abuse of authority.

It is rare for trial observers to feel sorry for defendants. In this case, however, the courtroom was filled with sympathy. In one of his first sentences, the dejected-looking 47-year-old Viennese man says that he has not been feeling well since the incident and is now undergoing treatment. 

No handcuffs due to the illness
He thinks about February 2 every day: "After almost 20 years on the job, something like this happens to me," he sighs sadly. The man has been a prison guard since 2005 and has worked at the Barmherzige Brüder hospital in Leopoldstadt for several years. "The senior physician ordered that the prisoner be brought to the examination department without being handcuffed. Because of his illness, there was a risk to his life if he fell."

So he took the prisoner, who was dressed in pyjamas and slippers, to the neurology department unsecured: "Everything was fine. Until we got into the elevator on our return. I turned away briefly to push. Unfortunately, the moment the door closed, the passenger slipped through and ran off." 

The 19-year-old, who was suspected of terrorism, escaped and was only arrested the next day after a manhunt. 

Being a prison guard is a very strenuous, stressful job.

Richter Mathias Funk bringt gewisses Verständnis für den Angeklagten auf.

Blow invented out of a sense of shame
However, the reason why the 47-year-old prison guard has to answer for abuse of authority and defamation on Friday is not due to his escape, but to the report he wrote about the incident on February 26. In it, he stated that he had been hit on the forehead with his fist by the inmate and that this was the reason for the escape. "I falsely stated that the inmate had attacked me. Out of a sense of shame," the officer ruefully confessed.

He did in fact injure his head when he ran after the fugitive. "I hit myself on the elevator door."

Proceedings are discontinued
A video shown at the trial shows the non-violent but spectacular escape scenes. "Being a prison guard is a very strenuous, stressful job," says Judge Mathias Funk with a certain amount of understanding and proposes a diversion in the form of a fine of 4,000 euros for the accused. In return, the proceedings are dropped. The Viennese, who is still facing disciplinary proceedings, accepts. 

In the meantime, the 19-year-old was convicted in Wiener Neustadt on 9 October for membership of a criminal organization and a terrorist group. He is currently serving a five-year prison sentence.