Trial in Feldkirch

Tormentor goes free, victim must now stand trial

The defendant got away with an acquittal because the victim backed down.

(Bild: Dorn Chantall/Krone KREATIV)

A Muslim woman lied to the judge to protect her violent ex-partner from a prison sentence. Now the intimidated woman herself is facing proceedings for defamation and making false statements, while her tormentor continues to walk free.

On Wednesday, a trial full of contradictions and lies took place at Feldkirch Regional Court. For example, the accused claimed to still be in an upright relationship with the victim. And this despite the fact that she had been living in a women's shelter for six months. "Since then, we have cooked together once and gone out to eat four times," the perpetrator of the violence substantiated his claim. The victim, who was questioned in the absence of the accused, later clarified that this was not the case.

The case: The 57-year-old newspaper delivery man is accused of making dangerous threats. He had sent the woman several messages via WhatsApp in which he wrote: "You will be warned three times. If you don't do what I say, you will be stoned to death in public." Another time he threatened to kill her and a few days later he wrote: "Come home immediately and don't make me bash your head in!" The woman plucks up all her courage and goes to the police. There she also shows the officers the threatening messages. A restraining order is then issued against the 57-year-old.

Fear was written all over the victim's face
However, the Muslim woman withdrew her complaint out of fear. When confronted with the allegations by the judge, the accused denied them and pleaded not guilty. "I didn't write these messages." Whereupon the public prosecutor asks the question the other way round: "Do you think that a woman should do what a man says?" The man from Turkey doesn't have an answer: "I don't understand the question," he says naively.

Although the accused is not in the courtroom when the victim is questioned, the fear of incriminating her tormentor with her testimony is written all over the woman's face. Consequently, she claims that her statements to the police were a misunderstanding and that she had already apologized to the accused. "And when or how did you become aware of this misunderstanding?" asks Judge Nußbaumer. The woman failed to provide a plausible answer.

Victim loses her way mercilessly
Instead, she rambles on about a WhatsApp group and that the messages came from an acquaintance who is a namesake of the accused. She later claims to have written the threats herself out of jealousy. At some point, even the defendant's lawyer intervenes and says: "The woman should stop protecting my client and come clean. After all, she's running into criminal proceedings for defamation and giving false evidence!"

The counselor agrees. But because the witness continues to refuse to give evidence, she is now back in court as a defendant. The current trial, however, ends with an acquittal for the defendant.