Cultural background cannot constitute “a generally comprehensible severe emotion”

Policy Response DateJanuary 21, 2010 Country: Austria Address: Vienna General Type: Racist discourse Racism and discrimination phenomena: Anti-migrant/xenophobia, Nationalism
Groups affected / Interested in: Migrants Key socio-economic/institutional areas: Culture Hate speech/Racist Discourse Medium: Public Discourse, Political Discourse

A Viennese Court found a man of Turkish origin, who had stabbed his wife, guilty of (attempted) manslaughter instead of murder. The judge justified the decision for man slaughter as the perpetrator was motivated by “a generally comprehensible severe emotion” which can be explained by his cultural background. This judgment caused lively discussions and resulted in the launching of a decree by the Minister of Justice, which clarified that neither foreign origin nor any specific national origin can establish “a generally comprehensible severe emotion”.

Source:

http://images.derstandard.at/2010/01/26/BMJ_Kopfpapier_Erlass_21_01_2010_endgultige_Fa.pdf (2010-03-03)