A few weeks after the death of Christian Pilnacek, a secret tape recording emerged on Tuesday in which the recently suspended section head of the justice department made accusations against the ÖVP. The “Krone” investigated these recordings – the producer would also testify in court.
The tape recording of the conversation with Christian Pilnacek is from July 28 and is available for the “Krone” as well as the ORF and the “Standard”. The meeting in a restaurant in the center of Vienna lasted from 8:16 p.m. to 11 p.m. In the conversation, Pilnacek claims to have repelled interventions by the ÖVP in ongoing investigations.
Read Pilnacek’s full explosive statements here:
“The real problem is that people ask for things that wouldn’t be possible. They demand that I stop the investigation. I can’t do that, I’m not going to do that. Even when a house search had already taken place at the ÖVP, people came to me and asked: why don’t I turn it off? I’ve always said: I can’t do it, I won’t do it, I don’t want to.
“In every conversation Sobotka says: you failed yourself, you never turned it off. But that’s not possible and I’m not going to do that. We live in a constitutional state. I also think that it is fundamentally a conspiracy theory that I would have stopped the procedure for the ÖVP. I have not influenced any procedure. The ÖVP made this a personal accusation against me and said: ‘You are making all your prosecutors work against us’.”
“But that was the case. I get a call from Brandstetter, I say: Professor, Professor, what do you want? He says: I have just been asked if I can solve the problem…’, ‘I can only do it if you support me’, I said I cannot stop any investigation if it is justified…’
“I don’t want to say too much about it… but the ÖVP has always misjudged it. I can’t expose myself and stop any legitimate investigation. That simply doesn’t work. Kloibmüller always says that if Pilnacek acts out, we have a problem.”
Pilnacek: “Everything is illegal”
“I never understood it. I don’t understand the socialists and the NEOS. I was massively attacked by the ÖVP. At the time, the way the Telekom process went, Karl had to justify himself to the party leadership. Before that, she sat with me for an hour and I explained to her that there was nothing I could do. I don’t do anything either. Everything is illegal. Karl was then massively attacked by the party and she subsequently lost her positions. Because she failed to get her section chief to intervene in the process.’
“There is a lot you don’t know, but that was always clear to me. That’s how the group always was. When I started, the ministry was occupied by the blue, or BZÖ, for a long time. The ÖVP said I was a Blue. I understand that I have worked well with every minister. This is the government, I am a civil servant, so I have to support.”
“What makes me hostile to the ÖVP became very clear to me when I said: are you also doing something to support me? Then came the answer: You were never with us. The second thing is they said you never prevented a search. That’s what they think.”
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.
