The fourth suspect is a 15-year-old Afghan who is registered in the Vöcklabruck district. The police confirmed this to the OÖ Nachrichten on Friday afternoon. The youth appeared independently at the police station in Vöcklabruck. There he revealed himself as the one the police are looking for. At the same time, he also said that he “did nothing”. He will still be on Friday from Officers from the Linz criminal department interrogated.
The three boys aged 14 and 15, who were caught shortly after the crime on Wednesday, did not confess in their interrogations. One of those arrested is silent on the allegations, the others claim that there were “consensual” sexual acts. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the men are charged by the victim. The allegations are said to be serious. The four young people are said to have attacked a 16-year-old near Linz Central Station on Wednesday evening.
applied for pre-trial detention
The three arrested were taken to the prison on Friday night. The public prosecutor’s office in Linz has requested custody for them, and the court should decide on Friday or Saturday. In the case of young people, this is a little more complex, you need people you trust and interpreters, according to public prosecutor spokeswoman Ulrike Breiteneder. All three are innocent, but they are already known to the police because of “minor crimes,” they said.
One of the boys is making use of his right to refuse to testify, Breiteneder said, while the other two claim that there were consensual sexual acts. However, the boys were clearly burdened by the victim and they were “far away from the attempt”, but it was about “repeated, completed acts by different perpetrators”, she clarified. It is still uncertain how the crime happened and whether the perpetrators were acquainted with the victim.
Video: Police spokesman Friedrich Stadlmayr spoke on Thursday evening in an ORF interview about the current status of the investigation:
The penalty range in the case of a conviction for rape is up to five years for young people if the act results in serious physical injury – for example in the form of post-traumatic stress disorder – up to seven and a half years. For adults, the penalty is twice as high.
“Not Stuck in Trying”
Yesterday, 2:15 p.m.: A phone rings in the editorial office of the OÖ Nachrichten. A young woman answers. She is polite, her voice calm and composed. The heavy load is only audible in nuances. She wants to clarify something, doesn’t want to read anymore what she read everywhere yesterday. It’s Anna Z*. The 16-year-old who was allegedly the victim of an attempted rape. And that’s why I’m calling her. It was not just an attempt, she was raped by four young men. And while there’s no doubting their horrific experiences, words like “allegedly” must remain part of the reporting.
The 16-year-old spent most of the night yesterday in a hospital, where she was examined after the robbery. The results of this clinical examination and the testimonies of the alleged victim lead the police to assume that the rape was carried out, according to the current state of investigation, it was said last night. The police still have to clarify exactly what happened late Wednesday afternoon. Yesterday, the three alleged perpetrators arrested were questioned. For the time being, however, there were no new findings.
What is certain is that those who are said to have overpowered and raped Anna Z. are only 14 and 15 years old. They are two Afghans and one Iranian. The scene of the alleged crime was the stairwell of an adjoining building of the postal distribution center (PVZ) in the vicinity of Linz’s main train station. Only separated from the PVZ by a sheet metal door and hardly visible.
Linz police officers had made a tour there on Wednesday – it was just before half past five in the evening – and had become aware of suspicious voices near an emergency exit. Then suddenly there was a loud scream. The police opened the door and saw four youths kneeling over a young woman. The alleged perpetrators fled, three of them were arrested just a few moments later near the scene of the crime. A large-scale manhunt, in which the police helicopter was also involved, was initiated. Unfortunately it was unsuccessful. The fourth young man was able to escape for the time being.
“Incredible Crime”
The horror of what was happening in the middle of the state capital was never-ending yesterday in the population and in politics. “I am deeply appalled by this incredible crime and the perpetrators must be hit with the full force of the law,” says Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer (VP).
“It is unbelievable that such an atrocity can happen in broad daylight in the heart of Upper Austria,” says FP club chairman Herwig Mahr. The Linz FP security councilor Michael Raml sees “more police officers for Linz and the consistent deportation of criminal asylum seekers” as “long overdue”.
“Speechless and deeply affected”
The Upper Austrian SPÖ security spokeswoman Sabine Engleitner-Neu was “speechless and deeply affected”. She took the act as an opportunity to demand preventive measures: “Who are the perpetrators? Were there warning signs? How can such crimes be prevented in the future? – These questions require quick answers,” said Engleitner-Neu. More financial resources are needed for anti-violence measures.
The Green women’s spokeswoman in the state parliament, Dagmar Engl, warned against politically exploiting “this heinous act”. “The perpetrators must be severely punished without any ifs or buts. This act is also at the expense of integration efforts.
* Name changed by editors
Source: Nachrichten
