The story began in 2012 when the police found tons of illegal anabolic steroids in a gym in Villmergen. Several men were arrested. Among them was Anton, now 55 years old (all names changed). He is said to have sold anabolic steroids and thus made millions in profits. He spent two years in prison before he was convicted of commercial offenses against the Therapeutic Products Act in 2015.
One of the people who regularly bought illegal substances from Anton was Felix. After Anton’s arrest, Felix had incriminated him heavily with his statements. A few days before the trial, however, Felix unexpectedly withdrew all of his incriminating statements against Anton.
Twilight visit from Zurich’s Langstrasse
Anton, so the prosecution, is said to have put pressure on his former customer Felix after his release from prison, so that he withdraws his statements. He is said to have asked a colleague – the operator of a bar on Zurich’s Langstrasse – for help. This, in turn, is said to have hired Mehmet and Romeo – two shady characters from the milieu – to pay Felix a visit in Aargau and to intimidate him. With success. Felix, according to the prosecution, feared for his life and for the life of his partner and his then 7-year-old son and thereupon withdrew the statements against Anton. Prosecutors monitored the parties’ phones and gathered evidence.
The district court of Bremgarten sentenced the anabolic steroids dealer Anton last fall for blackmail, coercion and contravention of the Sports Promotion Act to a prison sentence of five and a half years. Mehmet, who had brought the message to Felix in Aargau, was sentenced to a conditional imprisonment of 8 months for assisting in extortion. The Zurich bar operator, however, was acquitted. Since he was not granted an official defense from the start, the court concluded that the principle of fair trial had been violated. Romeo, the second messenger of the threats, had since died.
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All those involved now met before the higher court. Anton, who is said to have initiated the blackmailing of Felix, was handcuffed. The convicted anabolic steroids dealer is again in custody for trafficking. He did not accept his verdict for extortion, coercion and violation of the Sports Promotion Act and demanded an acquittal in the High Court.
Also present was the allegedly hired messenger of the threats, Mehmet. He, too, demanded an acquittal from the allegation of complicity in extortion. According to his defense lawyer, Mehmet only went to blackmail with Romeo that day. The threats – everyone involved agreed – is said to have been brought by the late Romeo himself.
The acquitted bar operator, on the other hand, was in court because the public prosecutor’s office demanded a guilty verdict for him as well. He is said to have organized the “thugs” for Anton.
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Hesitant witness makes judges angry
The most important witness in the whole story was also summoned: Felix. The president of the court began the process by questioning the blackmailed person. But Felix, who was sitting with his back to his alleged blackmailers, squirmed. Again and again he stressed that he couldn’t remember exactly. The visitors to Langstrasse at the time – Mehmet and Romeo – would not have said clearly what they wanted from him. “You said I had to repent. She said I had to calm down. ” He does not know whether Anton sent them. Again and again Felix burdened the now deceased Romeo alone. He was just afraid of him. Romeo was a well-known, violent “psychopath”.
“They are obviously very keen not to incriminate anyone with their statements,” replied the court president before his patience broke. The judge reminded Felix that he must not refuse to testify. Felix finally admitted that he had assumed that the visit had something to do with his incriminating statements against Anton. But he never felt threatened by Anton, he relativized.
Everyone blames a dead man
Anton also did not want to hear about threats against Felix in front of the High Court and mentioned the late Romeo several times. “He was known in the milieu because he was so disturbed.” He found out in the street that Felix had been threatened by the two gentlemen. “I never received an order,” says Anton. And Felix withdrew his statements on his own initiative.
The problem with this claim: In a recorded phone conversation, Anton boasted about the intimidation. Felix whined to Mehmet and Romeo and pleaded not to harm his child, Anton boasted in the conversation. But these statements, argued Anton’s defense lawyer, should not be used. The wiretapping was not legal.
For the public prosecutor’s office, the evidence is “overwhelming”
“It’s about revenge and retaliation within a special milieu,” said the prosecutor. It is clear that the threats were coordinated. “The evidence is overwhelming.” And the threats were still having an impact. The phone calls showed a clear picture. In addition to Anton and Mehmet, the bar operator must also be punished for blackmail. The public prosecutor’s office demanded a conditional prison sentence of 18 months for him.
The judgments for Anton, Mehmet and the bar operator are still pending.
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