Alleged victim of police violence sentenced to 15 months in prison

2023-08-14 11:52:05

The 41-year-old man was sentenced to 15 months in prison, which he is conditionally granted. “You made up this story,” the judge stated in the verdict. Defense attorney Helmut Graupner was appalled by this decision: “This is the ultimate license for police torture.”

“I find that unfair. I will take action against the decision,” the 41-year-old appealed against his first-instance conviction in the courtroom. In any case, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) still has to deal with the case. After the trial, the 41-year-old said to the two media representatives present: “That’s how the courts are. Unfair.”

The man claims he was ill-treated by an officer at a police station on April 13, 2022. The injuries he suffered after leaving the office – including a bloodshot eye, bruises in the facial area and reddening of the conjunctiva – are documented in photos and in the form of hospital documents. The police officer had given him four to five blows to the left side of his face, including one just above the eye, the man originally stated in his ad. He also stated that he was choked until he could not breathe. “I told the truth. I didn’t lie,” assured the previously blameless defendant in court.

The public prosecutor’s office in Vienna had nevertheless accused him of defamation and false testimony, while the abuse of office proceedings against the police officer were dropped. At the end of February 2023, the regional court did not follow a continuation application directed against it. The decisive factor was a forensic medical report obtained by the prosecution. The expert came to the conclusion that the injuries found in the facial area were more consistent with the statements made by the officer and not with the portrayal of the injured person. The expert found that the delayed occurrence of reddening could be explained by extensive contact after an impact on a table top.

“Fierce Impact”

At the start of the trial in July, the 24-year-old police officer stated as a witness under a duty of truth that the accused was at his police inspection station during an interrogation of the accused – the 41-year-old had left insulting comments on a woman on an Internet platform and was accused of continued harassment in the way of telecommunications (§107c StGB) are questioned – become increasingly aggressive. He was afraid that the enraged man would jump out of the chair and attack him, so he tried to hold him down with both hands and prevent him from getting up. Due to an evasive movement, the man’s head hit the table violently, with the table top being the subject of discussion. There were “obvious injuries,” the police officer admitted, and it was “a pretty violent impact,” which suddenly became the edge of the table.

Defense attorney Graupner is certain that this statement was adapted to the expert’s findings insofar as the coroner ruled out during the hearing that the facial injuries were caused by a tabletop. The conviction of his client is a “signal that police attacks will have no consequences,” Graupner feared.