Trial in Vienna: Ten defendants after brutal knife attack in water park

The trigger was, according to the indictment, a dispute over wounded honour. A member of the group of Syrian background had previously been unable to defend himself against an alleged "insult to honour" and subsequently called for a "massive beating" via a chat group. The co-defendants followed the call and came armed to a mosque in Floridsdorf on 19 November at 5:00 p.m.

Background: Dispute over wounded honour

The later victim had been convinced that the meeting at the skate park in the water park would be a quiet conversation and therefore brought his younger brother as well as two friends along. Instead of a conversation, a group of around 20 people ran towards the young men, screaming, and immediately attacked them, according to the account.

The originally targeted victim remained almost uninjured, according to the indictment. His 14-year-old brother, however, sustained stab wounds to the lower back and buttocks. The then 15-year-old main perpetrator is said to have sat on the boy lying on the ground and stabbed him multiple times in the back and buttocks with a knife. The public prosecutor's office classifies this as attempted murder; further accused persons are charged with intentional grievous bodily harm.

Course of events and charge

In addition to the 15-year-old, who under the law must answer before a Schöffengericht, a total of ten persons are charged. Some of the alleged attackers were able to flee unidentified, according to the investigations. Before the court, accused persons stated that they had been "out of curiosity" or by chance near the crime scene when they learned of the brawl. The public prosecutor's office, by contrast, assumes a targeted, coordinated action.

The background of the group structure is, according to the prosecution's account, a loose circle of acquaintances of Syrian background who met regularly in and around a mosque in Floridsdorf. Only one of the defendants, the oldest, had been in regular employment; two others had attended the evening school of an HTL (technical college), and the majority had lived on up to 1,200 euros in Austrian social benefits.

During the investigation, one of the accused also came to the attention of the police because he was alleged to have made a prohibited recording in a video. When asked by the judge what that was supposed to mean, he said: "Ich habe meine Freunde aufgenommen." His details were then registered, the video was deleted and he was given a warning.

Sentencing range and procedure

For juvenile accused persons aged between 14 and 16, Austrian criminal law provides for a sentence of one to ten years' imprisonment in the event of a conviction for murder. Significantly higher sentencing ranges apply to adult defendants. The trial at the Schöffengericht is intended, in the coming hearing days, to clarify what role the individual accused persons played and whether the acts can be attributed to them beyond doubt.

Observers see the proceedings as a stress test for the judiciary, because an alleged gang-related course of action with a migration background is in the room. The prosecution announced that it would meticulously review the events in the chat groups in order to be able to distinguish between active participants and those merely passively present. A separate Wiederbetätigung (re-engagement in prohibited activities) prosecution against a member of the "Unsterblich Wien" grouping is also running in parallel.

Parallel proceedings and outlook

In parallel, a separate Wiederbetätigung proceeding is being conducted against a member of the "Unsterblich Wien" grouping. As the prosecution emphasises, both complexes are to be assessed strictly separately from one another. The next hearing date has been scheduled for the coming week; a verdict is not expected for at least several weeks.

The defence has already announced that it intends to call into question the statements of individual accused persons and to examine the credibility of the chat records. Victim protection associations, meanwhile, called for security to be increased at public places such as the water park in Floridsdorf and for targeted prevention work in schools and mosques to be intensified.