The Public Prosecution Service for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKStA) applies to the regional court. The Chancellery had previously refused to release emails from dozens of employees. Assisted by the lawyer of the Republic, Wolfgang Peschorn.
The battle over emails from dozens of associates and former confidants of Sebastian Kurz continues. The WKStA demanded this in connection with the “study affair” – mainly because the data carriers of the confidants, Johannes Frischmann and Gerald Fleischmann – had apparently been deleted. Both – just like Sebastian Kurz and other people – are accused (infidelity, corruption, bribery). It is the presumption of innocence.
WKStA follows suit
After the Federal Chancellery, supported in its argument by Wolfgang Peschorn, head of the Financial Procuratorate and as such the lawyer of the Republic, refused to hand it over, the WKStA is now following. In a letter to the regional criminal court in Vienna, it is now again requested to send the mail folder.
In the letter, the WKStA states that an investigation was conducted in August and that an agreement had been set for September 7 – between representatives of the BKA and the WKStA. Before that, the BKA had no doubts about the request of the corruption investigators. Only at the appointment itself. Analogous with the reason that the request is too vague for implementation. It was “not sufficiently specific” about “which physical or electronic objects or documents by which persons in which locations and with what content should be secured by the Federal Office for the Anti-Corruption, n.d.)”.
Peschorn also spoke publicly about an inadmissible and non-specific demand from the WKStA.
The ball is in the court
In fact, these are bystander email folders and personal data can also be compromised. The WKStA now states that the BKA is confusing the requirements of a freezing order with those of a search warrant. “A seizure order need not contain a limitation to a specific location”, but “only to describe the objects to be secured.” The lack of specificity is also contradicted: the data sources are named specifically – with mailboxes, disks, etc. The persons concerned can therefore also be determined via job descriptions.
In addition, the WKStA complains that all data of employees who left the BKA before September 2021 are no longer available. The WKStA is all the more committed to its demand, the seizure order. The ball is now in the hands of the court.
Source: Krone
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