Herbert Kickl’s Ash Wednesday speech (see video above) may have legal ramifications. As it became known on Thursday, the prosecutor’s office in Ried “soon” expected a report from the Upper Austrian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution on the statements. The FPÖ federal party leader had literally described Alexander Van der Bellen as “mummy” and “senile”.
According to prosecutors spokesman Alois Ebner, officials attended the event at the Jahnturnhalle in Ried and also heard Kickl refer to the Federal President as a “mummy” and “senile”. This could be an insult, Ebner continued.
Permission of the Federal President required
As soon as the report of the Bureau for the Protection of the Constitution is available, it will be checked. If criminal prosecution is envisaged, the public prosecutor’s office will request the required authorization from the Federal President. The president’s office has so far refrained from commenting.
Memories of “Hump Dump Affair” 2000
A look at the Penal Code (paragraph 117) shows that “criminal acts against the honour” of the Federal President can be prosecuted by the authorities. However, this requires the “authorization of the offended person”. This was relevant once before, namely when the then Viennese FPÖ leader Hilmar Kabas called federal president Thomas Klestil a “lump” in the “Hump Dump” affair. Klestil waived the permit in 2000, but then had the Salzburg FPÖ chairman Karl Schnell prosecuted.
Outrage over Kickl’s speech
The other factions found sharp words for Kickl’s statements on Thursday. ÖVP General Stocker criticized the “radical slogans”. In terms of content, the FPÖ does not score, Kickl is step by step driving the radicalization of his party.
“We regularly see in parliament that Herbert Kickl does not believe in a civilized tone in politics,” Green Party chairman Maurer wrote on Twitter. Nevertheless, she criticized: “The wild insults directed at the Federal President in his Ash Wednesday speech are another attempt to destroy confidence and incite hatred.”
NEOS boss Beate Meinl-Reisinger admitted on Twitter that she herself does not shy away from arguments and “goes too far with formulations”. “But we don’t want to treat each other the way Kickl does!” she stressed. “Not with older people, not with the Federal President’s office!”
SPÖ federal manager Christian Deutsch said Kickl had “shown the FPÖ’s ugly face again in his unspeakable speech on Ash Wednesday”. Above all, he showed why the FPÖ is not a state: “No solutions, only hatred and incitement to hatred. Anyone who literally mocks older people as ‘senile mummies’ is a traitor to the people, not a representative of the people!”
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.
