Life and Death in Austria [MEGATHREAD]

[The Minsky Moment]

It appears that the FPÖ in Styria has jumped from 10 to 27% in today's election.

"Die Soziale Heimatpartei" - what could possibly go wrong with that?

[Crazy_Ivan80]

It appears that the FPÖ in Styria has jumped from 10 to 27% in today's election.

"Die Soziale Heimatpartei" - what could possibly go wrong with that?

where do they come up with those

[Duque de Bragança]

It appears that the FPÖ in Styria has jumped from 10 to 27% in today's election.

"Die Soziale Heimatpartei" - what could possibly go wrong with that?

where do they come up with those

Well, you have to admit it's a step back (or forward depending on the viewpoint) from Das Soziale Vaterlandpartei.

[Syt]

http://www.thelocal.at/20150113/german-axe-killer-lives-with-corpse-for-three-months

German axe killer kept body for three months

So here's the verdict:

http://www.thelocal.at/20150617/15-years-for-axe-murderer-who-killed-homeless-man

15 years for axe killer who lived with body

A 52-year-old man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Vienna court for killing a homeless man with an axe in his apartment last October.

The German native lived with the corpse in his home for over two months, before finally confessing what he had done to friends.

His trial on Tuesday began two and a half hours late, after he complained that he had a bad headache and there were some doubts as to whether he was mentally well enough to attend.

He shuffled into the courtroom wearing pyjamas and slippers, and told the judge that he was finding it "hard to cope" with being in prison, and was keen that the trial should be over with as quickly as possible. A psychiatrist had declared him fit to stand trial. 

The accused, who according to prosecutor Karina Fehringer had taken early retirement and was suicidal and depressed, had a "social conscience" and repeatedly offered homeless people a bed for the night in his home. His friends described him as "calm and caring".

Last year he met a 50-year-old Slovakian man and offered him a place to sleep at his apartment in Meidling. However, he became annoyed after the Slovak outstayed his welcome and was constantly turning up at his flat drunk.

"I threw him out three times but he kept coming back," the defendant said. He added that the Slovak became aggressive towards him and that he didn't know what to do. "I was overwhelmed."

When he turned up drunk at his home on October 26th the 52-year-old said that he cooked him a meal, and then told him it was time to go, "otherwise something bad is going to happen".

The unwanted guest ignored him and went to sleep on the sofa. "When I woke up at 2:00am and found him still there I became enraged," the accused said.

He took an axe from his bedroom, which he said he kept next to his bed to defend himself from intruders, and struck the Slovak with two "massive blows" to the head. When he was sure the man was dead he went back to bed and fell asleep.

He lived with the decomposing body in his home for over two months. The mummified corpse was only discovered on January 12th, after the 52-year-old (who moved in with a friend in late December because the smell in his apartment was getting too bad) confided in a drugs counsellor and two friends.

In his defence, he said that he felt that his victim was exploiting him and he could see no other way out of the situation.

A psychiatric report found that the 52-year-old suffers from a narcissistic disorder with schizoid-paranoid components, but that this did not mean he couldn't be held responsible for his actions and it was not recommended that he be sent to a psychiatric hospital.

He has been ordered to pay €9,900 in compensation and to cover funeral costs to the victim's daughter.

[The Brain]

"I threw him out three times but he kept coming back,"

Oh, this was before. Nm.

[Syt]

http://www.thelocal.at/20150618/grass-mower-runs-over-body-on-donauinsel

Grass mower runs over body on Donauinsel

A gruesome discovery has been made on Vienna's Donauinsel island - the body of a 31-year-old woman, hidden in tall grass.

The body was found after it was run over by a tractor-drawn grass mower, which was being used near to the Steinspornbrücke bridge on Wednesday morning at 9am.

Police are now investigating whether she was dead before being run over. "Circumstances suggest that she was already dead," police spokesman Patrick Maierhofer said. An autopsy has been ordered.

Maierhofer said that the woman was fully dressed and had an ID card with her. The grass she was lying in was around one metre high - and is part of a large green space which connects the Lobau nature reserve with the Donauinsel and is used by cyclists and walkers.

[Syt]

The victim was a 32 year old homeless woman. She was still alive when the mower ran over her. Toxicological tests are being run to check if she was drunk/on drugs when the accident happened, because normally you'd hear the thing approaching.

[Syt]

http://www.thelocal.at/20150620/three-dead-in

Three dead in Austrian car and knife attack

A seven-year-old boy is reported to be one of the three people killed when a man deliberately crashed his car into crowds in Graz and then started stabbing people.

A witness told the Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung that dead bodies were left lying face down in the street after the vehicle sped through the historic Herrengasse and Hauptplatz in Graz, Austria's second-largest city.

34 pedestrians have also been reported to have been injured during the episode. The driver, reportedly a 26-year-old Austrian man of Bosnian heritage, has been arrested and the area sealed off.

14844, a hotline for relatives and victims has been set up.

Authorities say that it's not a terrorist attack

[The Brain]

What's wrong with people?

[Syt]

http://www.thelocal.at/20150622/strache-under-fire-for-exploiting-tragedy

Strache under fire for exploiting tragedy

As Graz residents still recover from the shock of Saturday's tragedy, the leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) Heinz-Christian Strache has come under fire for his comments about the nationality of the driver behind the attack.

Posting on his Facebook page, Strache wrote: "Madness in Graz! The culprit is from Bosnia. A religiously motivated assassination is not ruled out!"

The comment later disappeared from his social media page but screengrabs taken of the post quickly began circulating online.

Police ruled out a terrorist motive for the attack by the 26-year-old man who killed three people, including a four-year-old boy, when he drove his car into a crowd of shoppers on Saturday afternoon.

Regional police chief Josef Klamminger said: "We can say clearly and without doubt that it is an isolated incident without political or extremist motivation."

Initial interviews carried out by the police suggested the driver showed symptoms of "psychosis" though they say he has since remained "evasive" in his answers. He is being brought before a judge today.

Strache's post was met by fiery criticism on social media, including a comment from Austrian-Serbian football star Marko Stanković.

Stanković, who plays for SK Sturm Graz, wrote on the FPÖ leader's page: "Can you determine from these lines that the reason for this terrible act is his country of origin??? I feel personally attacked by this post and see in your post a fundamental dislike of people with foreign origin!!! Shame on you, Mr. Strache, shame on you!!!"

Strache later defended his comment by pointing to a report in the Krone Zeitung that also highlighted the driver's Bosnian origins. The driver is believed to have been born in Bosnia but moved to Austria when he was a young boy to escape the Bosnian war.

The Krone article Strache points to is basically saying that while authorities say it wasn't a religiously motivated attack, WHAT IF THEY'RE LYING TO US???

[Syt]

FINALLY. Only three more years to go.

http://www.thelocal.at/20150708/smoking-ban-bill-to-become-law

Smoking ban bill to become law

Austria's parliament will pass a new bill on a complete smoking ban on Wednesday - which will come into force in May 2018.

The ban covers smoking in "all public places where food and drinks are manufactured, sold and consumed" and affects many restaurants and cafes which are currently exempt under a 2009 law.

Most restaurant and cafe owners are strongly opposed to a total ban as they say their businesses will suffer and complain that they invested millions of euros to create smoking and non-smoking areas.

Business owners who break the law will face a €2,000 fine and smokers caught smoking in restaurants, cafes and bars will be fined €100. Alongside cigarettes and cigars, the law also covers e-cigarettes and shisha pipes.

The ban will also be enforced in schools and open spaces where children and teenagers are supervised - including sports clubs and rehearsal spaces. It will not cover private club rooms used by adults. Smoking will also be banned in hotel rooms and bed and breakfasts, but "strictly separate" smoking areas will be provided.

There are tax incentives for businesses who enforce the ban before July 1st 2016. A tax bonus of 30 percent will apply, the value of which is related to previous costs in setting up smoking and non-smoking areas.

Austria has some of the worst smoking statistics in Europe - with only Greeks, Bulgarians and Latvians smoking more. Around 14,000 people a year die in Austria from tobacco-related illnesses.

A large majority is expected to vote for the bill in parliament, with only the right-wing Freedom Party and Team Stronach voting against it - saying that it endangers Austria's bar and cafe culture and smacks of a 'nanny state'.

[garbon]

I like that there are still places that say that smoking bans will cause business to collapse.

[Syt]

FPÖ led a protest against the law a few weeks ago. Less than 500 smokers turned up to show their displeasure. One promptly suffered a heart attack.

[Syt]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/austria/11359867/British-paratrooper-charged-with-rape-of-six-year-old-Austrian-girl.html

British paratrooper charged with rape of six-year-old Austrian girl

Unnamed British paratrooper charged with rape and grievous sexual abuse of a minor after allegedly climbing into girl's bedroom while in Austria on week of ski training

Austrian prosecutors said on Wednesday that they have charged a British soldier for allegedly breaking into a local family's house and sexually abusing their six-year-old daughter.

The paratrooper, 30, who has not been named, has been charged with rape and grievous sexual abuse of a minor, said Hansjoerg Mayr, public prosecutor in the western Austrian state of Tyrol.
"The trial will start on March 10," Mr Mayr said. The defendant faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The soldier, who was taking part in a week of ski training in the Alps, was tackled by the girl's father in the house in Neustift during the alleged incident late last year, and has been in Austrian custody ever since.

He is serving with 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery.

An Army spokesman said in December, shortly after his arrest: "The Army is aware of the arrest and detention of a soldier in Neustift, Austria, on the morning of 29 November. This is a matter for the Austrian authorities and it would be inappropriate for us to comment further."

According to the Austrian newspaper Heute, the girl's father caught the "half-naked" soldier in the act of attacking his daughter, and "beat him bloody" before police arrived.

The soldier broke into a house in the small town Neustift, in the Stubaital valley, an area of ski resorts south of Innsbruck, gaining access to the girl's bedroom through a window.

Neustift, which has fewer than 5,000 permanent inhabitants, attracts more than a million overnight visitors each year.

The soldier has been sentenced to 9 years. He says he went drinking with his fellow soldiers, but can't recall leaving, entering the family's house and approaching the girl; he only vaguely remembers fighting the father and the girl in her mother's arms. The defense will appeal the verdict. The judge says that the soldier committed heinous sexual acts that would be "near impossible to surpass."

[Syt]

Yay!

http://www.thelocal.at/20150723/state-must-foot-costly-squat-eviction-bill

State must foot costly squat eviction bill

The interior ministry has said that the state will have to foot the bill for evicting a squat in Vienna last summer- which came to €870,000.

1,454 police were on duty on July 28th for a ten hour operation to evict 19 squatters from a house in the 2nd district. Many of the police were dressed in riot gear and equipped with water hoses. 31 people were arrested.

The house in Mühlfeldgasse had been occupied by the activists - who called themselves Pizzeria Anarchia - for over two years.

The owners of the building had actually invited them to move into an empty apartment for six months, rent free. The building was badly in need of renovations and the owners hoped that the anarchists would scare off the older tenants who were refusing to move, and clear the way for a new real estate project.

However, the squatters became sympathetic to the tenants' plight, and decided to stay - so the owners requested they be evicted.

Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundböck said there was no legal case for retrieving the cost of the police operation from the building's owners - and that whether or not they had invited the anarchists in was "irrelevant" legally.