"Unbearable"

Abuse case: Nehammer wants to lower the age of criminal responsibility

After the drama surrounding a twelve-year-old girl, Federal Chancellor and ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer is now calling for more toughness.(Bild: APA/ROBERT JAEGER)

After the shocking alleged serial rapes, including cell phone videos, of a girl as young as twelve by a multicultural gang, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) says what many in Austria are thinking: "We have to talk about penalties. The defencelessness of the constitutional state in the face of such crimes is unbearable!"

We simply have to talk relentlessly about what is going wrong and where the rule of law does not have enough power to intervene.

Order to Edtstadler and Karner
The head of government therefore instructs Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler and Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (both ÖVP) to draw up concrete proposals.

After the drama surrounding a twelve-year-old girl, Chancellor Nehammer is now calling for more toughness.(Bild: APA/ROBERT JAEGER)

Nehammer sees three concrete areas of action in the "Krone" interview:

• That teenagers under the age of 14 - as in the current case - cannot currently be prosecuted in court for offenses such as rape or grievous bodily harm. In other words, a concrete lowering of the age limit for the so-called age of criminal responsibility! The fact that children as young as twelve could stand trial in future is, of course, highly controversial in our country. Overall, however, the phenomenon of youth violence needs more attention.

• The role and responsibility of families. The Chancellor: "We must ask how the state can better support parents in prevention and how youth welfare can be a stronger lever." Ultimately, however, "the responsibility of parents must also lead to liability".

• The general imbalance of offenses against life and limb compared to property offenses in our legal system. To put it simply: a "thief" often receives the same sentence as a violent offender.

"Brutal acts like the one committed against the twelve-year-old girl show that our legal system is not accurate enough. What do the victim's parents say when the perpetrators walk around free? I don't think that's acceptable," concluded Nehammer, visibly moved.