Trial against Josef S.

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Stencil by Antifa for Josef S. in Vienna

The trial against Josef S. was conducted against the German student Josef S. from Jena , who was arrested on January 24 , 2014 during a demonstration against the Vienna Academic Ball in Vienna . He was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment , of which eight months were conditional , for breach of the peace , property damage and bodily harm .

To the prehistory

Josef S. grew up in Jena and studied materials science there until his arrest . In the past he took part in protests against right-wing extremism several times and is a member of the Socialist Youth of Germany - Die Falken .

The academics ball, which has been organized by the FPÖ in the Vienna Hofburg since 2013, is unofficially the successor to the “Wiener Korporations-Ball” (also “Ball des Wiener Korporationsring ”); it was organized annually from 1952 to 2012 by mostly striking and color-bearing university corporations. There were demonstrations and political discussions every year . In the past, the police accompanied the demonstrations with large numbers.

Demonstration and arrest

On January 24, 2014, the city center of Vienna was cordoned off. According to various media reports, around 6,000 to 8,000 people demonstrated, including those who had traveled from Germany by bus; 2000 police officers were present, including the Vienna Einsatzgruppe Alarmabteilung (WEGA), a special police unit. After the rallies ended, riots broke out, which, according to the public prosecutor, resulted in total damage of 500,000 euros.

14 demonstrators were arrested during the evening. Thirteen of them were released that night after their personal details were recorded, while Josef S. was held in custody. According to a parliamentary question by the Greens , charges were filed 517 times for breach of the peace , 91 times for damage to property and 70 times for violating the ban on masking after the riots .

Pretrial detention and trial

Joseph S. is by prison guards (accompanied by police) in Vienna Regional Court demonstrated

The indictment against Josef S. is essentially based on the testimony of a WEGA policeman who was not in uniform . At the request of the defense, S. examined a glove for traces of smoke. The appraiser found such traces, but they do not clearly indicate whether he threw a fireworks.

Clemens Lahner, Josef S.'s lawyer, is of the opinion that S. had come into the focus of the investigation because he was wearing a sweater with the words "Boycott" on it, which could also be seen in the dark. According to Lahner, S. cannot be seen masked on any video or photo of the thousand-fold documented demonstration. A sound report showed that someone else (not Josef S.) shouted the words "continue, continue". An excerpt from an ORF report shows that Josef S. set up a garbage can (and did not throw it). On surveillance cameras of shops in the pedestrian zone, S. can only be seen running, never beating. The plainclothes policeman himself had been temporarily arrested by other policemen and had not seen S. all the time. The police documentation contains the following sentence: “If the civil service officer tries to follow S., the officer is stopped. As a result, the person of S. gets out of control and any further acts he has committed cannot be assigned. "

The first trial date took place on June 6, 2014 at the Vienna Regional Court . The court decided that S. would remain in custody and cited a risk of offense as the reason for this .

On the third day of the trial, July 22, 2014, S. was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment - eight of them conditional - for breach of the peace in ring leadership, attempted serious bodily harm and serious damage to property . The public prosecutor's office waived an appeal; The defense asked for time to think about it and then filed an appeal and a nullity appeal . The almost six months of pre-trial detention were offset against the unconditional prison sentence, so that S. was released after the trial.

The annulment complaint filed on October 9, 2014 aimed at the complete annulment of the judgment. The appeal was directed against the amount of the penalty.

The annulment complaint was rejected by the Supreme Court in February 2015, so that the guilty verdict was initially final. The Higher Regional Court of Vienna , which is responsible for the decision on the appeal, also confirmed the amount of the penalty of the first instance judgment in a non-appealable decision on July 2, 2015. In the grounds of the judgment, Senate President Christian Dostal stated that “it should not be assumed that the sentence was too high - but rather that it was too low”. The right to freedom of assembly is undermined by people like Josef S., whose willingness to use violence means that the residents “no longer dare to leave the house. [...] This right must not be undermined by violent people who come from abroad and are not even affected by the circumstances here. "

reception

Demonstration for Josef S. in Vienna on July 26, 2014. The demonstration was organized by the Autonomen Antifa Wien.

The political scientist and former chairwoman of the Association of Socialist Students in Vienna , Natascha Strobl , is of the opinion that “the judiciary is harassing a young man in a Kafkaesque trial. She wants to hit everyone who takes to the streets for anti-fascism. "Here, the" authoritarian parts of the state apparatus "want to make an example.

Heinz Patzelt , Secretary General of Amnesty Austria, said the case made "once again clear how excessively pre-trial detention is being imposed in Austria: a certain suspicion and a threat of punishment in a certain amount are sufficient". Patzelt criticized the prosecutor's choice of words as "highly problematic". In a constitutional state it is “superfluous to work with such metaphors”.

The Josef S. case also led to a discussion about the rule of law in Austria, with widespread criticism of the police and the judiciary. The bourgeois press wrote: "The use of so-called organizational crimes, especially in connection with civil society engagement, causes intimidation and is fatal in terms of constitutional and democratic politics." “There is a judgment - possibly a misjudgment - based on a single witness. Happens. Sometimes a judge only relies on circumstantial evidence. Scandal? Nobody calls. The breach of the peace paragraph is not that new either: football fans have known it for a long time. But with those the media outrage is limited. And so the extent of the criticism of the Josef S. case reveals more about what the critics actually want to say: that the demo is about a good cause, that in the fight against right-wing extremism not everything is allowed, but more Commentator Anneliese Rohrer, in turn, wrote there on July 26th, 2014: “Let's talk about judges!” She emphasizes trust in the judiciary as a valuable asset, and links the criticism of the trial against Josef S. with the likewise controversial proceedings against animal rights activists and against Sprayer and calls for a review of prosecutors and judges as well as quality assurance and better training.

Spiegel Online editor Oliver Trenkamp observed the trial and sharply criticized the prosecutor and judge. According to Trenkamp, ​​“The trial and the verdict […] showed three things: How unreliable the witness evidence is. How little can be enough in Austria to be locked away for months and convicted of serious crimes. And how great are the prejudices in parts of the Austrian police and judiciary against activists who are left of center. "

The verdict was commented on in different ways in Austrian party politics: SPÖ judiciary Hannes Jarolim said he was “mildly surprised” about the verdict and criticized the long pre-trial detention; The Greens MP Albert Steinhauser said that the judgment in question had practically abolished the presumption of innocence in Austria. The chairman of the ÖVP Vienna, Manfred Juraczka , however, stated that the verdict was “a positive sign that violence will not be tolerated and that the perpetrators will ultimately be held responsible.” The FPÖ politician Hans-Jörg Jenewein spoke of a “victory of the Rule of law ".

Award

In Jena, Josef S. was awarded the 13th prize for moral courage on June 13, 2014 in absentia ; Jena Mayor Albrecht Schröter presented it to his sister on behalf of him. After Lothar König, S. is the second recipient to receive the award for moral courage during ongoing legal proceedings.

Web links

Commons : Josef S.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b c d sueddeutsche.de July 3, 2014: Process with Kafkaesque dimensions
  2. ↑ Jena Prize for moral courage to Josef is an important sign! ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in Jenapolis, June 14, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jenapolis.de
  3. ↑ Huge police force, 500 demonstrators, four arrests . In: The Standard of January 29, 2011.
  4. ↑ sueddeutsche.de January 24, 2014 / Ruth Eisenreich: ban on masking, restricted areas and 2000 police officers. - The academics ball is by far the most controversial ball in Austria. Right-wing extremists from all over Europe meet in Vienna.
  5. ↑ kurier.at: Akademikerball: "Exceptional condition" for the police on January 24, 2014.
  6. ↑ kurier.at: Police are investigating “a larger group of people” on January 31, 2014.
  7. ↑ a b taz.de: In dubio contra reum March 14, 2014.
  8. ↑ Arrests, injured, destroyed cars. ORF, January 25, 2014, accessed on January 25, 2014 .
  9. ↑ Der Standard : Akademikerball-Proteste: Indictment against German activists , March 18, 2014.
  10. ^ Robert Zikmund: The case of Josef S. In fm4.orf.at, May 28, 2014.
  11. ↑ derStandard.at: Verdict for Josef S .: 12 months partially conditional imprisonment July 22, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  12. ^ Riot at Akademikerball: Josef S. goes against conviction in front of Spiegel Online, July 23, 2014.
  13. ↑ orf.at: Twelve months imprisonment for Josef S. July 22, 2014, accessed on July 22, 2014.
  14. ↑ Press release ( Memento of the original from October 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / freiheit-fuer-josef.familientagebuch.de
  15. ↑ Philipp Aichinger: Supreme Court: Student Josef S. is guilty of DiePresse.com
  16. ↑ Case Josef S .: appeal was rejected , Der Standard, accessed on July 2, 2015.
  17. ↑ APA-OTS: acquittal for Josef! §274 Abolish breach of the peace! ; Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  18. ^ Window shot in by ex-VSStÖ Vienna boss. ( Memento of April 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: today . April 1, 2014.
  19. ↑ Natascha Strobl : The case of Josef S. is absurd reader's comment on derStandard.at from June 12, 2014. Accessed on July 22, 2014.
  20. ↑ derStandard.at: derstandard.at Amnesty "sprachlos" about investigation mishaps in the Josef case p. June 11, 2014, accessed on July 22, 2014.
  21. ↑ Der Standard: Further Detention for Demonstrators , February 17, 2014, p. 9 (PDF).
  22. ↑ a b c Conviction for lack of evidence , Spiegel Online, July 22, 2014.
  23. ↑ Oliver Schreiber: Case Josef S .: When files mock basic rights , Die Presse (Vienna), July 21, 2014. Accessed on July 23, 2014.
  24. ↑ http://diepresse.com/home/meinung/kommentare/3843410/Ein-Skandal A scandal? The press , July 24, 2014.
  25. ↑ Anneliese Rohrer: Attack on the image of the judiciary / Let's talk about judges! , Die Presse July 26, 2014.
  26. ↑ Between "left-wing agitation" and "criminalized protest". ( Memento from July 29, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Kleine Zeitung . July 24, 2014.
  27. ↑ Video of the award ceremony
  28. ^ Prize of civil courage for pastor Lothar König. ( Memento of the original from February 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. City of Jena, June 21, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jena.de