At the end of June, the two women were sexually harassed by a group of young men at Keplerplatz in Vienna-Favoriten. The main suspect, a 17-year-old Algerian, is said to have followed the victims to a friend and harassed all three in front of her apartment. A week later, he was arrested after a physical assault in a supermarket. Since then, the previously blameless man has been in custody.
The defendant received eight months in prison, two of which were unconditional, for sexual harassment, trespassing, property damage and other offenses. He accepted the verdict, without an explanation from the public prosecutor’s office, the guilty verdict is not yet final. After imprisonment, the convicted person receives probation assistance. He is also given sex and anti-violence therapy at a non-profit organization in Vienna.
Two women aged 19 and 21 came by train from Linz to Vienna on June 28 to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They got off the subway at Keplerplatz and were immediately approached by a group of young men, sexually harassed and groped. The accused himself “touched her again and again,” the younger woman described in court. Even after being expressly rejected, he continued to be intrusive: “I said he should leave it. He said, ‘She’s mine’,” the 19-year-old said. The defendant insisted that none of the women asked him to leave.
“Touched by Several Men”
Finally, the accused put his arm around her shoulders, held her and “touched her butt several times”, his companion “touched her girlfriend rather below”, reported the 19-year-old. Her 21-year-old friend said she was “touched on the bottom and near the breasts by several men.”
The accused himself claimed to have protected her from the intrusive men. At her express request, he followed her to her friend’s apartment. The allegations were made up because his presence made the women uncomfortable. He was only at Keplerplatz to work because there were “many Arabs” there.
Together with a second asylum seeker, who according to his supervisor has meanwhile left abroad, he is said to have followed the women to the apartment. He does not know this, said the defendant. According to the 18-year-old, who was celebrating her birthday that evening, the strange men had appeared at her door accompanied by her two friends. The accused even managed to get into the apartment. They had asked him verbally and with gestures to leave in vain. After the three frightened young women managed to lure him into the hallway with an excuse, he is said to have kicked the closed front door and damaged it. According to their own statements, the witnesses were afraid of being raped by the aggressive 17-year-old.
A joint a day
According to his own statement, the accused was born in Algeria and lived there until the age of twelve. He came to Austria via Serbia and was accommodated in the asylum centers in Traiskirchen, Korneuburg, Simmering and Klingenbach. According to Judge Krasa, his name did not appear in any register in Traiskirchen. He consumes little alcohol, but smokes a joint every day – because of “bad memories” a doctor prescribed medication for him.
He was also under their influence when he is said to have instigated a violent argument with the staff of a penny market in Vienna on July 5. He was already known in the store as a thief, which is why he was particularly watched, explained the branch manager who was heard in court.
On that day, the Algerian took a marble cake from the shelf, unpacked it and bit into it, but then put the cake back. When the branch manager confronted him, he raised his voice, punched the store manager in the face and head and finally tried to pull out a jackknife. Together with the cashier and a customer, the Algerian, who was cursing loudly and flailing wildly, was disarmed and pinned to the ground. The cashier, who was also heard, showed a video of the incident on his cell phone.
In police custody, the accused was “unruly and uncooperative” and had to be prevented from harming himself, the officials reported. He banged his head against the wall, screamed and attacked prison guards. According to the medical officer, he was in an exceptional psychological situation, which can be traced back to traumatic childhood experiences.
Source: Nachrichten
