Proceedings restart

Vienna attack: 125,000 euros for one human life

The attack in Vienna's city center shook the country in 2020.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV; Kronen Zeitung, APA/Roland Schlager)

The Supreme Court has sent the rejected official liability claim of the mother whose daughter (24) was a victim of the night of terror back to the starting line. The woman can now hope for compensation again.

"The attack could have been prevented", the lawyer of the grieving mother who lost her daughter in the terrorist attack in Vienna's city center on 2 November 2020 is convinced. The young woman was studying at the University of Applied Arts and also earned some money by waiting tables. Along with her, three other innocent people lost their lives in Kujtim F.'s atrocity.

The 24-year-old's horrific death was caused by "culpable negligence on the part of state security and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution" - which is why her mother sought compensation from the Republic on the grounds of official liability. Around 125,000 euros are at stake. This is because the later assassin was not only a convicted Islamist - the authorities had neglected to submit a report to the public prosecutor's office despite further radicalization. The authorities had even known about the Islamist's attempt to buy ammunition ...

However, after a trial in 2021, the court of first instance dismissed the claim for the time being: the police's duty to report to the public prosecutor's office was not intended to prevent future victims from being harmed at a later date, the court ruled.

The Palace of Justice is to clarify whether the death of a 24-year-old student could have been prevented.

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

Now the grieving mother can hope again! The Supreme Court (OGH) upheld the plaintiff's appeal and overturned the decisions of the lower courts. According to the Supreme Court's decision, "the purpose of protection also lies precisely in the prevention of harm to people living in the territory of the state as a result of a terrorist attack".

The Palace of Justice will now once again clarify whether the attack would have been prevented with overwhelming probability if the now renamed Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism had acted in accordance with its duties.

"Shame that this trial has to be held"
The trial should have taken place on Monday at the Regional Court for Civil Matters. However, it was canceled at short notice due to a request for postponement by the parties. A new date has not yet been set: "It's a disgrace that this trial has to be held at all," said the relatives in 2021.

What is even more shameful is that more than four years after the night of blood in the heart of the city, the case is now back to square one.