In June 2021, 13-year-old Leonie was raped, abused and strangled. Her body was then simply dumped under a tree in Vienna’s Donaustadt district. The Afghan suspect who managed to flee to London should now finally be extradited to Austria – but he continues to try to avoid trial.
The level of frustration in the Leonie case increases once again: Even more than half a year after the murder of the 13-year-old schoolgirl, not all four Afghans suspected of the crime can be brought to trial in Austria. The reason: the extradition of Rasuili Z., which was actually imminent, has been delayed indefinitely. Rasuili Z., who is now 23 years old and the second oldest suspect in the Leonie case, managed to flee across the Austrian border to Europe and London last year; with the help of his lawyer, Z. applied for asylum in Great Britain.
Three and a half weeks ago, a court in London granted the extradition of the young Afghan, who is alleged to have been at least involved in the death of Leonie, who died in Vienna’s Donaustadt on June 26, 2021, but R. Zubaidullah is now resisting this measure. In this context, the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office is also investigating three other Afghans for rape resulting in death.
“The accused has filed an appeal against the decision on extradition,” the spokeswoman of the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office, Nina Bussek, informed Austrian Press Agency (APA) on Friday. It was not foreseeable for the time being when a decision on the petition could be expected. “We do not have any further information at the moment,” Bussek said.
The three other accused, aged between 16 and 23 – two are in pre-trial detention in Vienna, another in criminal detention due to a conviction for other offences – are still under investigation, he added. They were arrested shortly after the body was found, while the suspected fourth person had left Austria and fled across Europe to England. At the end of July, he was arrested in a hotel.
Leonie came from the district of Tulln in Lower Austria, her death shook the entire country in the summer of 2021 and caused a stir far beyond the country’s borders. According to the investigations so far, the 13-year-old schoolgirl, who was 13 at the time of the crime, met the youngest Afghan suspect on June 25 at the Danube Canal in Vienna, where she is said to have been given ecstasy. She was then allegedly taken by the alleged 16-year-old to the flat of an 18-year-old. There, the girl was allegedly given further drugs. At least two of the four suspects allegedly raped her.
When Leonie lost consciousness, the men became nervous. They allegedly gave her milk and yoghurt and held her under a shower. But the young teenager showed no more signs of life. They then allegedly wrapped the girl in a carpet and leaned her against a tree on a grass verge. Passers-by discovered Leonie’s lifeless body the next morning.
https://exxpress.at/fall-leonie-fluechtiger-afghane-wehrt-sich-gegen-auslieferung-aus-london/