It almost borders on irony that the former Eurofighter prosecutor – a case that gave the ÖVP a headache long before Sebastian Kurz – was a single judge in the trial of the former chancellor and ÖVP chairman Kurz, his old confidant Bernhard Bonelli and the former ÖVP deputy party leader Bettina Glatz-Kremsner will lead. In any case, Michael Radasztics is no stranger to the judiciary – and he has also gained experience with former politicians.
Radasztics has been a judge at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court since early January 2023, where he took over an economic department. For the past 15 years he has worked for the public prosecutor’s office in Vienna. Radasztics started his career in the legal profession initially as a lawyer and, after moving to the public prosecutor’s office, was first responsible for general criminal cases before specializing in white-collar crime. He has been group leader since 2012.
Radasztics also researched Grasser
Radasztics originally investigated ex-Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser and then oversaw the Eurofighter case for years before this file was withdrawn from him in 2019 and handed over to the WKStA. Now Radasztics, as a single judge, will have to assess the merits of the charges brought against Kurz & Co by the WKStA.
Even in the crosshairs of justice
At the time, the Eisenstadt public prosecutor’s office was investigating Radasztics because, as a prosecutor, he broke off, but did not stop, a prominent case he was leading. However, it turned out that this procedure was common within the government and was therefore covered by law. Even an expert appointment made by Radasztics turned out not to be the originally suspected abuse of office. Investigations against him into alleged betrayal of official secrets also failed – Radasztics was accused of having passed on the contents of an instruction covered by official secrecy.
The fact that he got the indictments against Kurz, Bonelli and Glatz-Kremsner on his desk is due to the computerized file distribution system at the Vienna Regional Court, which is supposed to ensure an even burden on the more than 80 working judges in the Gray House . After a declaration was made on August 11, the file was entered into the system at the so-called entry point and assigned to the department led by Radasztics. At the WKStA there is a special responsibility for filing criminal complaints, the economic departments are responsible for these procedures, of which there are a total of ten at the Regional Criminal Court.
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.
