According to a media report, the chancellor himself has been named as a suspect in the investigation into the Cobra affair involving two bodyguards from the family of Karl Nehammer (ÖVP). The public prosecutor’s office in Korneuburg confirms that several suspects or reports are being investigated, but does not name them.
The case concerns two officers from the Cobra special unit who were assigned to protect the chancellor’s wife. They are said to have caused an accident with body damage in the spring of 2022 after their shift drunk with the company car. According to an online report by “Profil”, there is now initial suspicion that Nehammer may be involved in abuse of office or involvement in it, but no concrete accusation yet.
Anonymous accusation of interference
In a parliamentary inquiry, the SPÖ published an anonymous letter from an alleged Cobra insider, which also raised allegations that the chancellor could have intervened in the case to cover up the trials – which Nehammer himself angrily rejected as untrue.
With regard to the allegation of alleged interference, according to the report, the Korneuburg public prosecutor’s office is still dealing with a first suspicion of abuse of office or involvement therein. So far there is talk of an investigation against a “famous person”, but neither Nehammer nor his wife. According to Friday’s “Profile” report, the chancellor himself is among the suspects. Of course Nehammer is not the “suspect”, that would only be the case if there was a concrete suspicion.
Nehammer’s wife not a suspect
According to “Profile”, Nehammer’s wife is not among the “suspects”. The anonymous letter states that she had an appointment on March 14 with Cobra director Bernhard Treibenreif at the headquarters of the special unit in Wiener Neustadt. “That is demonstrably a lie,” said Nehammer’s attorney Oliver Scherbaum. To prove this, he referred to flight tickets and the confirmation of a hotel in Berlin for the relevant period that Katharina Nehammer stayed there. Driven Ripe had also dismissed the anonymous allegations after they arose.
“It is nothing new, it has been common knowledge for a year that investigations into the Cobra case on the personal protection of Chancellor Karl Nehammer have been ongoing,” the chancellery said on “Profil”. “The reason is an anonymous pamphlet with accusations. These allegations are false. The Chancellor has not yet been questioned and is not a suspect.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
