Explosive belt threat against authority: Upper Styrian sentenced in Leoben
A man from Upper Styria threatened to blow himself up with an explosive belt at a government office. The Leoben Regional Court sentenced him to eight months conditional imprisonment.
Eight months conditional for explosive threat against authority
An Upper Styrian has been sentenced at the Leoben Regional Court to eight months imprisonment suspended for three years for dangerous threats. According to the Kleine Zeitung, the man stated in July of this year to an adult representative that he would pay a visit to the competent authority with an explosive belt.
The accused did not appear at the hearing. According to judge Peter Wilhelm, he had requested in writing that the hearing be postponed because the person who was supposed to accompany him to court had to attend a doctor's appointment. He provided no corresponding evidence. "We will therefore proceed with the hearing in his absence," Wilhelm stated.
Conversation for guardianship court escalates
The adult representative, called as a witness, described the circumstances of the incident to the court. He had conducted a conversation with the accused, who has been in a wheelchair since an accident, in order to prepare an expert report for the guardianship court. Since the man had only limited German language skills, they had partly communicated using a translation app.
At the beginning of the conversation, there was an "aggressive atmosphere". The accused felt he had been treated unfairly by the system and expressed "considerable displeasure". During the conversation, the threat with the explosive belt then emerged. When the witness pointed out that the man would be committing a criminal offence in doing so, the latter answered that he did not care: if he did it, he would probably be dead or in prison — which was no different from being trapped in his flat now.
The prosecutor asked the witness whether he had the impression that the accused had actually been capable of carrying out the threat. "In any case, I felt it necessary to write that in my report in order to warn the guardianship judge," the witness replied.
Judge convinced despite language barrier
Judge Wilhelm justified the verdict against the previously unblemished man by stating that he could initially not rule out whether it was a translation error by the app. "Based on the witness's account, however, I am convinced that this statement was made as described," he explained. The prosecution made no statement.
Source: Kleine Zeitung