STA, 28 November 2019 - An Iraqi man who injured a taxi driver and attacked a police officer in the Nova Gorica area in July pleaded guilty at today's pre-trial hearing. The prosecution is seeking six years in prison and deportation.
Al Hamdani Yassin Amar, 26, told the Nova Gorica district court today that he wanted to kill the taxi driver but that that was god's will.
Since he told the court he was not interested in a trial and declined an interpreter and lawyer, Judge Igor Majnik decided that given the confession the main hearing was not necessary. He said there was sufficient evidence to confirm his guilt.
Prosecutor Ana Radovanović Širok sought a two-year prison sentence for the assault on the taxi driver, another four years for the attack on the police officer and five months for the attempted car theft, or a total of six years.
The man's lawyer called for a milder sentence for the attack on the police officer because the attack was not premeditated.
The prosecutor also demanded the defendant be remanded in custody until the ruling becomes final.
The judge will declare the ruling on Monday.
The Iraqi man entered the taxi in Vrtojba but only a few kilometres later, it became clear to the taxi driver that the man does not have enough money to pay for the ride to Ljubljana, so he pulled over on the expressway and wanted him to leave the car.
But the 26-year-old resisted and attacked the taxi driver with a hobby knife. Two police officers rushed to the scene to find the driver bleeding from his neck and saying he had been attacked by a man in the near-by taxi.
The taxi driver had escaped from the vehicle and took the keys with him, while the Iraqi man attempted to hotwire the car to get to Ljubljana on his own.
As the police officers approached him, he responded with threats and started running towards one of them with the knife shouting, police said.
The officer fired a warning shot, but that did not stop the man so he shot him in the leg.
