Life imprisonment

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Ahmed A. (27) in August at the jury trial in the regional court.(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

After the murder of a Somali father, a criminal and violent Somali man (27) asked for leniency at his appeal trial on Tuesday. But the court remained firm: Ahmed A. must serve life in prison.

The "Krone" had reported on the case and the trial: Life imprisonment was the verdict of the jury court, pronounced on August 21 in the Salzburg Provincial Court.

The accused Ahmed A. (27), who had six previous convictions and had only left prison a few weeks before the crime, killed a fellow countryman in Schießstattstraße in Salzburg-Lehen on February 1. He stabbed him five times in the chest, back and head. He then pursued a second compatriot with the knife in his hand, but he was able to flee in time.

This "high level of violence" was also discussed at the appeal trial on Tuesday. While the defense attorney saw the sentence as "too harsh", the public prosecutor found the decision to be understandable in view of the circumstances.

This was ultimately also the view of the three-judge panel of the Higher Regional Court: The "eruption of violence and brutality" alone in the murder of the victim, who left behind four children and a wife, was enough to warrant a life sentence. Why did he do it? "We do not know. There is a lot to be said for a trivial reason," explained the presiding judge and emphasized: "The acts show how indifferent the accused is to our values."