On New Year’s Eve 2022, there were clashes with several young people during a police operation in Vienna-Floridsdorf and fireworks were also reportedly thrown at the police officers. Subsequently, proceedings were initiated against a civil servant on suspicion of abuse of official authority. As has now become known, the investigation has been discontinued.
The accusation was that during the New Year’s Eve riot on December 31, 2022, the police officer pushed a young person against a park bench and insulted other young people.
Outrage over video of police operation
Videos published online of the police operation in the area of the Dr.-Franz-Koch-Hof in the Mitterhofgasse caused a stir in January 2023 and earned the police some criticism. It shows the officer – masked and carrying a baton – leading some young people arrested during the operation. “What do you want, klana brat?” you hear a police officer shouting among other wild insults.
As the footage continues, you see an officer grab another boy by the jacket and push him onto a park bench. At least in the sequences circulating on social networks, other officials cannot be seen intervening. Police subsequently said the video had been secured and passed on to the relevant authority for legal and disciplinary review.
Three arrests, dozens of reports
According to state police headquarters, civilian and uniformed emergency responders were alerted after a group of masked teens and young adults threw fireworks in the officers’ direction. The results of New Year’s Eve were published by the police at the time: three arrests, more than 200 identity checks and dozens of reports.
It wasn’t until December that an aggressive officer was charged, mainly based on videos. The police officer allegedly hit a young man’s head several times on the asphalt floor in Vienna-Simmering. The trial was postponed on Monday.
Since Monday, cases such as those in Floridsdorf or Simmering have been handled by the Investigation and Complaints Center for Allegations of Abuse (EBM), which is part of the Federal Anti-Corruption Office (BAK). The Ministry of the Interior expects that this will result in a “rapid and competent” clarification of the allegations made.
Source: Krone
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