Salzburg: Pongauer threatens the police – six months suspended sentence
A 51-year-old Pongauer was sentenced on Monday (January 17) to a suspended sentence of six months, as well as a fine and payment of damages because of a threat to an official.
Salzburg – On Monday (January 17), a 51-year-old early retiree from the district of St. Johann im Pongau was sentenced to a suspended sentence of six months, as well as a fine and payment of damages. He put a police traffic check on the Autobahn online and described the police as a “criminal organization” and a “corrupt bunch”, among other things. The defendant, who had five previous convictions, did not appear in person at the hearing “because he is not vaccinated, does not wear a mask and does not want to be tested,” said his lawyer. The hearing therefore took place in absentia, the judgment is not final.
It is well known that police officers have to put up with a lot during checks and other official acts, but the traffic stop on the Westautobahn on March 6 last year was clearly too much. Four people were sitting in the car without the protective masks required at the time, and immediately after being stopped by a highway police patrol, the accused began filming the check with his cell phone. He later posted the recording on his partner’s Facebook account, publicly, for everyone to see, his own account is blocked. The approximately 15-minute video, which the defendant himself claims to have deleted, was shared umpteen times, including on relevant Facebook pages such as “Kurz muss weg”.
The disparagement of the police accused by the public prosecutor’s office, the slander and the threat against the officials – “I’ll report you” – are easy to understand on the video. The lawyer of the defendant who did not appear, on the other hand, speaks of a pure “expression of displeasure”, he also did not threaten any officials, “I will report you” would probably not frighten any officials.
“Police should not support the corrupt government”
The video shows two level-headed officers acting calmly despite the defendant’s apparent hostility. The accused whipped up aggressiveness again and again, with statements like “It’s coming onto the Internet, you’re being filmed, there will be a time after Nehhammer” and the like. “You no longer have common sense, if the law says ‘shoot’ then you do that too,” continued the Pongauer. When asked why no one in the car had a mask on, all four randomly pulled out a certificate that allegedly exempted them from wearing a mask. Then the quickly usual “I have a certificate, but I don’t have to show it to you, it’s a coercion under Section 105, you’ll get a report”. The man, who has several previous convictions, then describes the police as a “criminal organization, such a corrupt bunch” and believes that the police “should protect people and not support the corrupt government”.
An officer present at the control demands compensation of 700 euros, because of the degrading art and manner of the accused and the publicly displayed video, she was violated in her privacy. The police officer who intervened also said that he had never experienced anything like this in his long service. “It was a disparagement of the profession, you put up with a lot, but that was unique,” said the official.
Before the guilty verdict, the defense attorney of the accused, who was not present, repeated again that no one had been threatened, but that the police as a whole was meant. A disparagement of the two officials can therefore not be identified. The presiding judge saw it differently. He found the accused guilty and sentenced him to a suspended sentence of six months, as well as a fine of 340 euros and the payment of 500 euros in damages to the two officers. “We saw an exemplary official act and a completely escalated defendant, he found that he had publicly uploaded the video to his partner’s account, this video was therefore accessible to the general public”. In addition, no abstract discussion about the police could be heard as at a regulars’ table, but the two officers of the highway police were clearly meant. Neither the prosecutor nor the defendant’s lawyer made any statement after the verdict, so the verdict is not final.
huh