The Afghan is said to have stabbed a Chechen several times with a butterfly knife after a dispute at the end of June 2021. The then 22-year-old was injured so badly that both his lower legs had to be amputated. Two suspected accomplices were charged with aggravated assault. All three pleaded not guilty.
The later victim is said to have asked a work colleague in the early evening of June 21 to drive him to an apartment building in Linz because he “still has something to do,” the prosecutor explained. An Afghan man got into the car at the said address. Apparently there was a dispute about a drug deal, the Chechen is said to have hit the Afghan, whereupon he took the car key and ran away.
The two who stayed behind decided to wait in the house for the fugitive. In fact, he returned – although he had apparently ordered reinforcements for a “beating”. First, the two suspected drug dealers got into a scuffle on the stairwell before four to five Afghans showed up, including the three suspects, according to prosecutors. According to the prosecutor, the Chechen’s work colleague braced himself against the front door with all his strength so that the buddies could not get into the house. He then escaped through a back exit.
“I heard screams coming from the house,” the main defendant explained, recognizing the voice of his friend, with whom he had lived in a refugee shelter for six years. Therefore, he and the others gained access to the house and they kicked in the glass door. He claims to have seen the Chechen lying on the floor in the basement, bleeding. He saw two knives and a bloody mask. To protect his friend from injury, he grabbed the guns and mask, he told the judge. He lost the kitchen knife and disposed of the other in a wastebasket. He also explains that DNA traces of him were found on the murder weapon. The main defendant denied that he had repeatedly stabbed the Chechen in the left armpit, chest and thigh with the butterfly knife.
Lower legs had to be amputated
The critically injured man dragged himself outside with the last of his strength. He was resuscitated there and had emergency surgery in the hospital. As a result, there were repeated complications, which is why both lower legs had to be amputated two weeks later, the prosecutor explained. But the liver and kidneys were also damaged to such an extent that the 22-year-old man is not only in a wheelchair but is also a dialysis patient, added the victim’s lawyer, who joined the criminal proceedings as a private party.
A co-defendant denied having come to the aid of an Afghan friend because of a beating. “I’m in shit, please help me,” the buddy is said to have said on the phone. So he went to the home address. His client was “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the defense attorney denied a “joint action plan.” He also cut his leg “really, really badly” when entering the glass door, which is why he couldn’t even go into the house.
Surprisingly, a third accused was in court on Tuesday. That 23-year-old Afghan was arrested just over two weeks ago. However, he does not want to have anything to do with the incident. He just happened to be passing that house on June 21. When he noticed “a commotion,” he simply walked past the house on the other side of the street, the defense attorney said. Therefore, like the other two colleagues, he also applied for an acquittal for his client.
The trial is scheduled to last two days and is scheduled to continue on Wednesday.
Source: Nachrichten
