Five years in prison

Violent offender: “When I do this, I’m stronger”

In just a few weeks, a 20-year-old committed a series of violent acts around Floridsdorf station - he beat a sleeping homeless man 20 times with an aluminum rod. He is also on trial for terrorism charges. The young Viennese radicalized himself after his friend was killed in the Vienna attack in 2020 ...

"This is inhumane" - a sentence you would normally hear from the public prosecutor, the judge or perhaps the defense. But in courtroom 22 at the Vienna Regional Court, the accused used these words to comment on his own actions. "I am sad that I did something like this. I can't believe what I did to these people", the 20-year-old admits. 

Trace of violence at Floridsdorf station
The list of his victims is long. In spring 2023, he was up to mischief with a whole gang of teenagers and young adults in the 21st district around Floridsdorf station: "In the course of the investigation, it was recognized that he had committed several acts of violence," says the public prosecutor. He threatened a security guard and a bakery employee with a blank-firing pistol. Beat up complete strangers. Kicked passers-by with an e-scooter as he drove past.

I had the feeling that if I did that, I would be stronger and the other young people would look at me.

Der 20-Jährige zeigt sich vor dem Schöffensenat reuig.

"The overall picture was that acts of violence were committed against bystanders for no reason at all," summarizes the prosecutor. And why? "I had the feeling that if I did that, I would be stronger and the other young people would look at me," admits the young Viennese. Probably the most brutal of his acts: In May 2023, he hit a sleeping homeless man 20 times with an aluminum rod. As with the other acts of violence, an accomplice was filming. "Hit him on the head", he shouted behind the camera ...

Friend lost in Vienna terror attack
How could it come to this, Mr. Rat wants to know. The 20-year-old talks about his family, his childhood and school days - which were all positive. He started an apprenticeship and worked in a supermarket. A decisive experience: on November 2, 2020, he lost a good friend in the terrorist attack in Vienna's city center. "I couldn't get over the fact that he was shot."

How can you allow yourself to become a terrorist, condone violence and beat people? I can't understand that.

Schöffin im Wiener Landesgericht

He began researching and sympathizing with the jihadist Salafist organization al-Nusra Front. Because it fights against the Islamic State, the defendant explains. "I had such a hatred for IS." Research turned into radicalization. Completely incomprehensible for one of the lay assessors in view of the terrible fate of his good friend: "How can you allow yourself to be terrorized, condone violence, beat people? I can't understand that."

Prison sentence is not the right path
The Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN) became aware of an Instagram profile with radical content in October 2022 and confiscated the young Viennese man's cell phone five months later. In addition to propaganda material, they also found numerous videos of the alleged acts of violence. "I thought that was the right thing to do at the time. This is no longer the life I want to live. It's just terrible what I did. It's inhumane," he confessed in court, showing himself to be reformed. 

However, there is one thing that stands in the way of his full and remorseful confession: "You have committed a large number of completely unmotivated acts of violence. I have rarely experienced anything like this to this extent," the presiding judge remarks. He sentenced you to five years in prison. A large part - namely three and a half years - is suspended. The reason: "Imprisonment is not the right way to prevent you from committing criminal acts in the future." Instead, psychotherapy and psychiatric treatment as well as his participation in the deradicalization programme are considered more appropriate. Not legally binding.