From the courtroom

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With their spray campaign, the three students wanted to draw attention to a rally in front of the Bregenz Landhaus.(Bild: Chantall Dorn)

Three climate activists spray-painted artist Gottfried Bechtold's concrete car in the summer. They claimed not to have known the artist. They allegedly did not know that the object they graffitied was an artwork by the Vorarlberg artist. 

On Thursday, three young people aged 21, 19 and 14 had to answer for serious damage to property at the regional court in Feldkirch. At the beginning of July, the trio defaced the art object parked in the center of Bregenz with red and purple spray paint. The aim was to draw attention to a rally by the group "Extinction Rebellion" in front of the Landhaus the following day. The incident did not go unnoticed. The climate activists, two from eastern Austria and one from Switzerland, were charged.

At the trial, the three "Sudlers" confessed, but denied that they had intentionally caused serious damage to property. None of them had any idea of the concrete value of the concrete pots. "The manufacturer's description said that the chalk paint was easy to wash off," said one of the defendants. The students also apologize politely and respectfully to a representative of Vorarlberg Hypobank, which owns the art object.

Money scraped together for cleaning
At the suggestion of defense lawyer Emelle Eglenceoglu for a diversion, the financially strapped students put together their cash of 231.60 euros in the courtroom for the cleaning costs of the concrete porch and handed it over to the gentleman from Hypobank. When he then asks for 500 euros in compensation for five hours' work, the lawyer speaks up: "Please remember that these are three poor students." The banker replies that students also have to learn to accept the consequences of their actions.

It remains to be seen whether the bank will now pursue the matter under civil law. Judge Sabrina Tagwercher imposes fines of 250, 300 and 350 euros on the trio. They also pay these immediately. The proceedings have now been discontinued. The students are considered to have no criminal record.