Explosive model case

Deportation: Leonie murderer to be sent to Afghanistan

One of Leonie's murderers was brought before the Federal Administrative Court on Friday.(Bild: Kristian Bissuti)

Landmark hearing on Wednesday at the Federal Administrative Court in Vienna. One of the convicted murderers of 13-year-old Leonie will be brought before the court from Stein prison (Lower Austria). The girl died after being drugged and raped by three Afghans. Now one of the perpetrators is to be deported to Afghanistan. There has been no repatriation to the Taliban for years. And there are also decisive hurdles in this case.

In 2021, after the Taliban Islamist terror regime came to power, deportations to Afghanistan were suspended. A recent ruling by the Constitutional Court and the ongoing national election campaign brought renewed momentum to the debate on returns to Afghanistan this summer. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) is holding talks with EU states for a Europe-wide solution and has instructed the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) to examine cases.

22-year-old sentenced to 19 years in prison
And indeed, there is now a sensational precedent that could point the way forward: A murderer of 13-year-old Leonie, sentenced to 19 years in prison, is to be deported to Afghanistan. The girl was first drugged and then raped by three men in a Viennese apartment in June 2021 - resulting in her death.