Gerhard Karner (ÖVP), who was accused of plagiarism on Tuesday, is today threatened with new problems as the interior minister has to answer questions from MPs in the ÖVP’s corruption investigation committee. Among other things, the “SoKo Tape” set up after the release of the Ibiza video, several appointments and the previously unsuccessful subpoenas of the former Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance, Thomas Schmid, are to be put on the committee.
Next, the ex-secretary-general of the Ministry of Agriculture and then the private secretary of ex-minister Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP), Gernot Maier, and the head of the financial department of the federal party ÖVP are interrogated. The latter must, among other things, explain whether and to what extent federal agencies have paid for services that have benefited the ÖVP economically.
Karner saw no legal basis for showing Schmid
Karner was subpoenaed before the U-Committee because he saw no legal basis for bringing Thomas Schmid, who now lives abroad and whose cell phone had become a treasure trove for the investigators, to the police. Later, however, Karner relented and now wants to have Schmid presented when he comes to Austria just before a committee day.
Plagiarism allegations against Karner
Despite this, Karner has been facing accusations from plagiarism hunter Stefan Weber since Tuesday. The well-known expert found pages of plagiarism in the Home Secretary’s thesis and a theoretical part that had been copied almost entirely. For Weber, the work is plagiarism in view of the citation rules applicable at the time. Karner denied the allegations.
Source: Krone
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