People prosecuted or convicted of consensual homosexual acts in the Second Republic should be rehabilitated and financially compensated. The Ministry of Justice announced on Thursday the decision to establish a corresponding legal regulation.
The sentences handed down will be annulled, the affected people will be rehabilitated and compensated. A maximum of 33 million euros has been allocated for this.
Homosexuality was decriminalized in Austria in 1971
Homosexuality was fundamentally decriminalized in 1971. Nevertheless, there were still special paragraphs afterward that criminalized otherwise legal behavior involving same-sex acts. It was not until 2002 that the last of these provisions was repealed by the Constitutional Court (VfGH).
Compensation for prison sentences and social disadvantages
The current regulation is intended to overturn all sentences made on the basis of same-sex acts, if these would not have been punishable had they been committed by the opposite sex. Compensation is available if those affected have to go to prison or accept serious social disadvantages, such as losing their job.
Zadic: “The dark chapter of the Second Republic”
“The criminal prosecution of homosexuals was a dark chapter of the Second Republic and a great injustice,” Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) said on Thursday. Rehabilitation and compensation cannot compensate for the suffering caused. “But as a state we take responsibility for our history. I hope that other institutions, such as Parliament, which passed these highly reprehensible laws, will also follow the example of the judiciary and face their historic responsibility.”
SPÖ equal treatment spokesman Mario Lindner considers the initiative in a broadcast as a “huge success for civil society and everyone who has not given up.” This would “finally implement the LGBTIQ community’s decades-long demand for the verdicts to be overturned and real compensation payments made.”
The Homosexual Initiative Vienna also welcomed the initiative. However, some important questions remain unanswered: “People were wrongly imprisoned here; they could not work during this time.” It is therefore essential that the periods of imprisonment are offset against the pension without any premium. Fines imposed should be refunded with appropriate interest, a request said.
Source: Krone
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