Vienna attacker’s accomplice back in court

The men received long prison sentences for this. The Supreme Court then partially overturned the judgments due to deficiencies in the findings. The court must clarify on March 5th or March 7th whether there was a terrorist organization. The guilty verdicts for murder are final.

In a complex trial lasting almost 20 days, starting in autumn 2022, six men were tried who are said to have supported the later assassin in the planning and procurement of weapons. A now 25-year-old was sentenced to 20 years in prison because he supported the attacker from May 2020 until the day of the attack, knowing his intentions, helping to choose the target of the attack and making preparations to escape by obtaining fake papers.

• Also read: Terrorist attack in Vienna: process has to be repeated in some cases

A 29-year-old received a life sentence because he had encouraged the later assassin to carry out the crime up until the day of the attack and had prepared the murder weapons, ammunition and other paraphernalia in the assassin’s apartment. A now 23-year-old received 19 years in prison for handling the purchase of weapons and ammunition and establishing contact with the arms broker. Since he was still considered a young adult, a life sentence was out of the question. All three are Austrian citizens.

All guilty verdicts final

The guilty verdicts for aiding and abetting murder are all legally binding. The court only has to clarify whether the three were part of a terrorist organization – the radical Islamist “Islamic State” – or whether they were a criminal organization. To do this, they have to sit back in the dock in the large jury courtroom at the Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters on Tuesday or Thursday. A ban on film and photography was imposed for the two days of the trial. The reason for the rehearing ordered by the Supreme Court were criticized errors in the legal instructions given to the jury and a lack of specific wording in the verdict. This could change the level of punishment.

The second round of justice brought a slight reduction in sentence for those two men who were legally acquitted of complicity in murder. In the new hearing ordered by the Supreme Court for the same reasons, they were found guilty at the beginning of February – as in the first instance – of membership in a terrorist organization. 24 months of partial imprisonment became 18 months for a 24-year-old and 21 months for a year younger. The judge justified the verdict by saying that they received slightly less at the regional court than in the first case a year ago, taking into account the fact that parts of the process had to be reopened.

The 33-year-old Chechen who provided the assassin with the weapons is no longer part of the second legal process. His life sentence was confirmed by the Vienna Higher Regional Court at the end of January. He had already been acquitted of membership in a terrorist organization in the first instance verdict.

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