Supreme Court decision:

Fatal shot in Carinthian barracks was murder!

The defendant at the trial at Klagenfurt Regional Court. He was rather taciturn, but claimed that it was not murder, but an accident.(Bild: Wassermann Kerstin)

Today is the first anniversary of the death of a young conscript in Carinthia. On October 22, 2024, 21-year-old Austro-Turk Mustafa died in the Türk barracks in Spittal - shot by a bullet from the service weapon of an even younger comrade. The sad commemoration is now accompanied by news from the justice system in this tragic case.

Why did a 21-year-old have to die? Even a year later, the case still poses a mystery as to what happened between the two boys during their basic military service in the Carinthian barracks.

Lukas was on guard duty, a video camera outside shows how his friend Musti came to him because he had to report in. Then two minutes and six seconds pass in the dark before Lukas leaves the building. Not too excited, as the image and sound showed.

But in this short time beforehand, the unbelievable act of bloodshed had occurred. The shooter had always claimed it was an accident. His pistol holster had come loose and a shot had probably broken. That was one version. Then there were others. "The belt was pinching, I undid it and fiddled with the gun. I'm so sorry, but my actions pulled the trigger." And Mustafa was shot.

Twelve years in prison caused an uproar
"He was a good friend," Lukas claimed during the trial at the Klagenfurt regional court. There had been no argument, no motive. The public prosecutor's office could not find anything to explain the madness either, but assumed it was murder. The jury agreed and, together with the three professional judges, sentenced the defendant to twelve years in prison. The verdict horrified everyone involved. Lukas was shocked by the guilty verdict.

And anger among the victim's relatives at what they saw as too lenient a sentence. There was a commotion both outside and inside the court building, and a disinfectant dispenser was broken. "The police were on site and filed an ex officio complaint for damage to property," said court president Manfred Herrnhofer.

The appeal for annulment was rejected by the Supreme Court. This confirms the guilty verdict for murder.

Gerichtssprecher Liebhauser-Karl

Emotions will now run high again on both sides. Because the Supreme Court has ruled: "The defendant's appeal for annulment has been rejected," confirmed the spokesperson for the Klagenfurt Regional Court, Christian Liebhauser-Karl. The conviction for murder is therefore final.

What is still open is the final sentence. This is subject to change and will be decided by the Higher Regional Court of Graz, where the file has not yet been received. However, there can be no life sentence for Lukas anyway, as had been demanded in social media.

This is because he was under 20 years old at the time of the crime, which is why different sentencing limits apply to him under the provisions for young adults - in theory, he can be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years, in practice, the court of first instance considered twelve years in prison to be appropriate for guilt and the crime, and it is questionable whether the Higher Regional Court will see it that much differently.