The handsome Afghan refugee poses in shorts and blue denim shirt at a Vienna tourist attraction. He is posing by the bridge that overlooks the Danube Canal’s riverboats.
This picture shows him relaxed and confident, taken just weeks prior to he was made the primary suspect in an act of sex that stunned Austria. It was the case of Leonie Walner (13-year-old girl from Vienna), who was drugged and raped and later suffocated. Leonie’s slim body was discovered wrapped in a carpet roll and placed under a tree.
Rasuili Zubaidullah ran away from Austrian police within hours of their terrible discovery.
After fleeing hundreds of miles, he reached Dunkirk in France and evaded a pan-European search for him. He then boarded a boat that crossed the Channel from Britain to a trafficker.
He arrived in Dover, Kent, and claimed asylum under a false name. The Government then placed him in Whitechapel’s Ibis Hotel, East London.
Leonie Walner (pictured), aka ‘Rebel’, was captured on CCTV along with several refugees. Next week Zubaidullah (who celebrated his 23rd Birthday in October) will have to appear in London for an extradition hearing. Austria is asking him to return home from Vienna where he’ll be questioned about Leonie’s’murder’ in the early morning hours of Saturday June 26 at a refugee flat in the city. A passerby found her battered body just 330 feet from the apartment at 6.55 AM that morning.
Based on an Austrian tip, British authorities found Leonie hiding in the room of the hotel in July. This was less than a month since Leonie had died.
Next week Zubaidullah (who celebrated his 23rd Birthday in October) will have to face an extradition hearing in London. Austria wants him back in Vienna to be questioned about Leonie’s “murder” in the early hours on Saturday June 26 at a refugee apartment in the City.
A passerby found her battered body just 330 meters from the apartment at 6.55 AM that morning.
The Mail was able to see Leonie’s autopsy records. They include DNA tests linking her abused body with Zubaidullah as well as a group of Austrian young male refugees.
His escape from Austria was a matter of hope. He wanted to travel through Innsbruck, across Western Europe and into Europe via train and bus.
A handsome Afghan refugee poses at Vienna’s popular tourist attraction in blue jeans and shorts. He is posing by the bridge that overlooks the Danube Canal riverboats. He was photographed last summer. This was just weeks after he was made the main suspect in the crime that shocked Austria. Leonie Walner was 13 years old and was drugged, raped, and then suffocated. Her body was discovered wrapped in a roll carpet under a central Vienna tree. Rasuili Zubaidullah ran away within hours, skirting Austrian authorities
Northern France saw a large number of Afghans waiting for boats to Britain this week. They remembered Zubaidullah who, 12 days after Leonie’s death, walked into Dunkirk migrants camp.
Shinwari Kuchi 35, an ex-Afghan soldier said, “I shared a tent while he stayed overnight.” ‘He talked about his plan to pay £3,000 to Kurdish traffickers to cross the Channel. He wanted Britain.
“He was just arriving when I saw him at the food bank. So I offered to let him sleep in my room. [tent]’. Although he didn’t speak much, he was gone when I woke up the next morning. I didn’t see him again, and he did not say that he was going on the run.
On July 18, Zubaidullah, a false pretence on the boat of a trafficker, entered Britain.
This is just one of nearly 27,000 migrants of different nationalities, many of whom are young men with mysterious backgrounds, who have made the long journey from France on rickety boats and sought refuge in the hotels, hostels, and ex-Army camps.
Security concerns have been raised by the fact that criminals and others intent to do us harm could arrive in large numbers seeking asylum, and then remain unnoticed.
Alp Mehmet is the chair of Migration Watch UK. He stated that as soon as a boat carrying migrants reaches the shores, it fails to provide asylum.
He stated that the Border Force does not have any way to verify identity and background of immigrants. The migrants destroy documents and give false names. There are many young men who are allowed to travel to Britain at taxpayer expense.
“If you claim to be a refugee from persecution, you shouldn’t hide your identity and pretend you are someone you aren’t when you reach the Channel crossing for asylum.
Was Zubaidullah the victim? After arriving from Afghanistan two years ago as a young man, he has been in contact with Viennese authorities on numerous occasions. He was not allowed to return home.
After Angela Merkel (then the German Chancellor) opened her country’s doors for Syrians fleeing civil conflict, Angela Merkel was among the 1.5 million migrants.
However, despite the fact that Zubaidullah had been deported from his file Zubaidullah wasn’t expelled.
He was sentenced for nine months to prison in the United States last year after being convicted of drug trafficking. He was again not allowed to go when he was released from jail earlier in the year.
Vienna media reported that he lived a simple life and enjoyed partying at cafes and bars along the Danube canal. Prater is a nearby amusement park, which has a huge Ferris wheel.
There are thousands of visitors to the area, it is popular with young Viennese and attracts a lot of drug-taking.
He and three young Afghan refugees from Afghanistan, all between 16-23, met Leonie there in the early morning hours of June.
Leonie broke the rules simply by being there. Melanie, her mother, 40, who is a night nurse, and Hennes (39, her father, paramedic) had both set a curfew for Leonie. The family had instructed her to always return by 9:30pm at Wiener Neustadt (40 miles from Vienna).
Her distraught parents described the girl as an ‘independent and rebellious’ child. Although her parents claim she loved animals and was kind, family members say that she was also a good-natured person. However, she is described by them as gullible, naive, and she enjoys the spotlight and men’s attention.
Sometimes she disappeared without telling her parents. According to Austrian media, she told her friends that she would ‘run from home’. She had her heart set on the Danube Canal Party Zone, which she visited that June weekend.
On Friday night at 11.30, just hours before her murder, she had been with Wiener Neustadt, her best friend of 15 years, and she told her that she wouldn’t be going home.
Then, she sent a message via text to her male friend, a 27 year-old salesman, asking him: “Are you going with me to Vienna?”
He took her to the capital and they went to see the Danube Canal. He then left her alone at the end of the night.
Zubaidullah was said to have fled Austria in June after Leonie’s body was discovered in Vienna, propped up on a tree. Leonie’s parents have filed an official complaint against Austria over the failure of authorities to deport asylum-seekers who are allowed to remain in Austria.
Leonie’s fate was set. She was dark-haired, dressed in T-shirts and checked trousers, and was seen walking down a Vienna street.
The 16-year old was one of those in the group. He had illegally entered Austria via Romania in April.
It is thought that he was instrumental in convincing Leonie to visit the apartment which is three miles away from the party area at 2 am.
What did the schoolgirl with the only child do in the hours that followed?
Vienna’s public procuror prepared reports on Leonie’s death. They claim she died from drug poisoning, suffocation and throat pressure. Her death was attributed to a fatal overdose of 11 Ecstasy pills. She had previously smoked marijuana joints and suffered’severe sexual abuse’ by multiple men.
It is believed that her heart stopped at some point during the night as she suffered from the effects of the drug abuse and continued to be subjected to violent attacks.
According to DNA tests, Rasuili Zubaidullah and other men were at Leonie’s apartment. They also sexually assaulted Leonie leaving her with severe bruising.
Austrian officials have pledged to pursue those who were involved in the death of the little girl.
Karoline Edtstadler (the country’s EU minister) declared that the suspects’ nationalities had been revealed.
Austria, unlike the majority of Britain and the European Union, has stated that it will continue to deport Afghans who fail in asylum applications, and put them back on flights to Kabul, despite being overthrown by the Taliban.
Leonie’s parents filed an official complaint against Austria due to the failure of Austria to deport refugee who had not been granted asylum and continue to reside in Austria.
Melanie, Melanie’s mother spoke out in interviews to the Austrian media. She expressed her shock and sadness over her son’s death.
Elle added, “Why are these people still living in the country?” They were not expelled. Are they still in power? That is what we want.
These are tough questions and are not likely to be asked by Rasuili Zurbaidullah, convicted drug dealer. He will appear via videolink from his British prison next Wednesday at the interim extradition hearing at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court.
He will return to Vienna in January for the last case.
Austria will in the interim continue to fight against him being allowed to wander the streets in his country. Austria expects that he will ‘abscond’, and might simply disappear.
It may offer some consolation to Leonie’s parents, who are in deep grief, and the Austrian government. At least for the moment.
Additional reporting by JAMES FRANEY