Several previous convictions

Turnaround in the trial of the violent Serb

The defendant was not sentenced to ten months in prison.

(Bild: Dorn Chantall)

The accused is said to have first beaten up his girlfriend and then two police officers. During the trial at Feldkirch Regional Court, at least some of the accusations turned out to be unfounded.

With several previous convictions, the Serbian could have faced four and a half years in prison in the worst case scenario, as the suspended sentences would almost certainly have been revoked. But this did not happen.

As it turned out during the trial on Friday, the alleged victim, the accused's girlfriend, had lied to the police. She had claimed that she had been abused in her apartment during an argument at the end of September. There was talk of several punches, and the drug addict also allegedly pushed the victim onto the bed, then sat on her chest, choked and punched her.

The woman also claimed to have been threatened by the 24-year-old. "I'll kill you if you call the police", he had told her, covering her mouth.

During the trial, the witness no longer wanted to know anything about the alleged physical abuse by the defendant. "I hit and scratched myself that day", the witness retracted.

Judge Theo Rümmele then reads the alleged victim the riot act: "I'll tell you just one thing: there's a lot at stake for the defendant today. Several years in prison! Why are you calling the police and claiming something that isn't true?"

In response, the witness just shrugs her shoulders, which is why the council acquits the defendant, who had pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempted grievous bodily harm from the outset.

However, the judge did find him guilty of the offense of resisting public authority and grievous bodily harm. The man had resisted arrest with his hands and feet and injured two officers in the process. The non-appealable sentence: ten months in prison.