Next Tuesday, a suspected opponent of the Corona measures will be held accountable at the Vienna Regional Court. On November 20, 2011, the man is said to have blinded a police helicopter with a powerful class 3 laser pointer during a large demonstration that attracted 40,000 protesters to the city center. Now the prosecution is charging him with willful endangerment of aviation (§ 186 StGB).
The public prosecutor assumes that the accused wanted to use violence against the crew of the police helicopter. If found guilty of the charge, he faces a prison sentence of between one and ten years.
The pilot finally had to change the direction of flight because the accused – at least according to the incriminated allegation – had targeted him several times around 5:00 p.m. After an initial evasive maneuver, which the co-pilot had initiated with a warning call, the suspect is said to have continued to follow and blind the helicopter with the laser device from the ground. The helicopter was at an altitude of around 450 meters. According to the prosecution, it took some time before the crew managed to steer the vehicle back into safe lanes.
Accessed on February 27, 2022 at 7:09 a.m. at https://www.sn.at/panorama/oesterreich/hubschrauber-auf-corona-demo-mit-laser-geblendet-prozess-117670699