Image: FOTOKERSCHI.AT / KERSCHBAUMMAYR (FOTOKERSCHI.AT / KERSCHBAUMMAYR)
The young people, a 15-year-old, a boy of the same age and a 16-year-old at the time, are said to have bought category 3 and 4 fireworks for the riots in the Czech Republic. The 15-year-old made a comprehensive confession, the girl then surprisingly in the process.
The public prosecutor accuses the friends of serious communal violence, serious bodily harm and burglary. The trio are said to have stolen cigarettes from a vending machine in September. On October 31, the three “in the first row” threw firecrackers in the direction of the police officers in downtown Linz, handed out firecrackers and incited others to throw them, according to the indictment.
The prosecutor found it “very unusual” to “go at the police officers and fight them for no reason,” as happened on Halloween night. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured and the damage to property was “manageable”. If the three young people in custody show honest remorse and apologize in the process, the prosecution believes that they would not have to go back to prison, he said with regard to the extent of the sentence of unconditional detention.
At least for the 15-year-old, the time in custody should have been enough to realize that he had made “big mistakes”. “I’m here for ten minutes of Halloween,” he admitted.
At first, the girl only admitted to having bought the firecrackers in the Czech Republic and taking part in the theft. The Thai woman said that she only accompanied her boyfriend – the now 17-year-old accused – on Halloween. She was wearing a balaclava and probably had firecrackers with her.
After the public prosecutor confronted her with incriminating testimonies, she explained at midday after a longer pause for thought: “In my mind I didn’t shoot, maybe I’m stupid, I don’t know, I blacked out.” She apologized anyway, I “did shit”. She no longer denied that the teenager, who had already been convicted of mobile phone robbery, played a leading role in the riots during her open probationary period.
Her boyfriend at the time, who was also accused, insisted that he had only participated in the riots. The Iraqi admitted to throwing a few firecrackers, but not at the police officers. Nor did he incite anyone else. He dismissed it as a lie that witnesses heard him yell, “If you don’t throw, you’re not a man and you don’t have any balls.”
Since the accused are still young people, the sentence is up to two and a half years in prison, which is only half of the actual sentence. A verdict was planned for the afternoon.
Source: Nachrichten
