Crime scene Reumannplatz has once again made it to the Vienna regional court. A 14-year-old and a 15-year-old are said to have committed a robbery there – and were taken into custody. The child-like teenagers are accused along with three other young people. In the process, abysses open up. Because three of the boys bullied their classmates for months.
“If you give me two euros every week, then I will defend you from beatings and not hit you,” says a 15-year-old classmate of the defendant, describing the ordeal he endured. According to the prosecution and witnesses, unbelievable scenes took place in 3C of a middle school in Vienna-Landstrasse. “They joked, insulted me. Then they hit me. In the neck or on the arm,” says one student, looking at his former classmates in the dock. “How often did you do that?” Judge Katharina Adegbite-Lewy wants to know. “Almost every day,” was the answer. Witnesses confused with school class Many children in the “problem class” have experienced the same fate as the boy. Girls were also beaten and had to pay weekly protection money. One young witness after another tells of everyday school life dominated by violence. So many that a court employee came into the room and reported a school class waiting outside. She suspected that one of them came to the country as part of a school excursion. In fact, it was mainly victims of the gang who called witnesses. The accused young people do not take the criminal proceedings particularly seriously. They are constantly smiling at each other. “Very funny. It’s nice that you’re enjoying yourself,” Ms. Rat admonishes the defendants, who are accused of robbery, extortion, serious bodily harm and coercion. Most of the crimes involve outbursts of violence against fellow students. Defendant: “It was fun.” “And why did you hit her?” asks the judge. “I do not know why. It was fun. I didn’t know they were taking it so seriously.” Now the chairwoman is showing photos of the victims’ injuries. Videos recorded for TikTok or Instagram also demonstrate the aggression. Kicks to the head and punches can be seen, even when the victim is already lying on the ground. “Where were the teachers?” says Ms. Rat, which is probably what everyone in the room is thinking. “Outside. That was during the breaks,” say the defendants in broken German. The career of the fifth defendant is particularly depressing in the trial. The Syrian, born in 2010, who came to Austria years ago as an unaccompanied minor refugee, was only 14 years old shortly before the robbery at Reumannplatz and therefore became of criminal responsibility. He can neither read nor write and has to be cared for individually by the child and youth welfare office because he is apparently not suitable for living in a shared apartment. “When I get out of prison, I want to go back to school,” he insists. Judgments from the jury are pending.
source site-12