All persons prosecuted or convicted of consensual homosexual acts in the Second Republic will be rehabilitated and financially compensated.
Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) announced a corresponding legal arrangement during a press conference on Monday. Accordingly, there will be a payment of 3,000 euros for each judgment quashed, and 1,500 euros for each year of imprisonment.
For every investigation initiated into the criminal paragraph that was abolished in the early 2000s, those affected will receive 500 euros, regardless of the outcome, as Zadic emphasized.
If the victims of the old statutory scheme have suffered economic, professional or health disadvantages, they will receive an extra 1,500 euros. A total of 33 million euros is available for compensation payments.
Victims must report themselves
Zadic estimated that about 11,000 people would be affected. However, the Ministry of Justice will not actively approach those affected. Instead, victims of the old scheme must turn to state courts or the ministry itself.
Various information will also be available on the department’s website. “We hope that many people will come forward,” emphasized the minister, who spoke of one of the “darkest but also saddest chapters in Austria”.
Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1971
Homosexuality was fundamentally decriminalized in 1971. Nevertheless, there were still special sections after the fact that criminalized otherwise legal conduct involving acts between people of the same sex. It was not until 2002 that the last of these provisions was repealed by the Constitutional Court (VfGH).
Source: Krone
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