Wrongly imprisoned

AI error: the diary from the horror prison

David P: "I started writing while I was in prison."(Bild: klemens groh)

Last year, a young Viennese man spent almost two months unjustly - and under terrible conditions - locked up in a Serbian prison. During this time, he wrote a diary. Which he now wants to publish as a book.

David P.'s drama is causing a stir. As reported on Sunday by the "Krone" newspaper in a detailed report, the young Viennese man was wrongly identified by a police AI facial recognition program as the wanted boss of a counterfeiting gang in the spring of 2023.

Christian Werner, the lawyer of the wrongly suspected man(Bild: Klemens Groh)

This had fatal consequences for the 31-year-old: an international arrest warrant was issued for him at the beginning of September - without him knowing about it. He was finally arrested on October 26 during a trip with his parents to their old home country of Serbia.

The hospitality assistant was then imprisoned there for almost two months in a "horror prison". Under catastrophic conditions: in a freezing cold 18-square-metre cell, with 15 other men - most of them serious criminals. Killers, terrorists.

"Sometimes I thought I wouldn't get out of prison alive," says David P.

The prison in Mitrovica where the young Viennese was detained(Bild: zVg)

"My head is full of fears"
 To document his torment "and take my mind off my terrible everyday life", he started writing a diary during his imprisonment. One passage from it: "My head is full of fears. A fellow inmate suddenly attacked me for no reason and hit my Adam's apple with his fist. I can no longer eat or drink, swallowing hurts terribly ..."

David P: "I started writing while I was in prison."(Bild: klemens groh)

The 31-year-old now wants to add to his notes - "also for psychological processing" - "and perhaps publish them as a book soon".