Andreas Unterberger writes in his current blog about a new, incredible coincidence involving judge Michael Radasztics, who has been criticized for bias: Accordingly, the disciplinary judge who convicted Radasztics described a statement by Peter Pilz as “unbelievable”. He had acquitted the judge and former prosecutor. On the very day the verdict was published, the crime of giving false testimony became statute-barred!
In his “Diary”, the former editor-in-chief (“Presse”, “Wiener Zeitung”) sheds new light on the events surrounding a disciplinary punishment against the Kurz judge, who was still a public prosecutor at the time. He concludes that this judge should not have presided over “the biggest show trial of the year”. The fact that the Radasztics conviction with the suspicion against Pilz was announced exactly on February 26, 2024 is not only strange because it was published three days after Sebastian Kurz’s verdict.
The crime of making false witness statements was prescribed for the first time on that day. A complaint could have been filed against Pilz for five years because of his statement. “This stinks to high heaven!” writes Unterberger.
According to the blogger, there should now be a thorough investigation and a high-level dismissal in the legal system at the latest. “And for the first time in a long time, a parliamentary commission of inquiry would now be justified, in which a few actors in this legal system would have to testify truthfully,” Unterberger said.
Pilnacek was suspended for the same violation
After all, Radasztics’ criticism was about passing on information from files. In other words: the crime that former section chief Christian Pilnacek was also accused of. He had unlawfully informed a journalist about a file detail. “Pilnacek was suspended and driven to death by maintaining the suspension for years,” Unterberger said literally.
He then goes much further with his accusations against Radasztics: it is not only the cases against Kurz and Grasser in which Radasztics seriously damages the reputation of the independent judiciary. Radasztics had previously also been active in – de facto political – procedures that, quite coincidentally, always went against bourgeois figures – from Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly to Julius Meinl.
“Slow” Madoff Trial
When he was still a prosecutor, the Kurz judge is said to have conducted the investigation into the Bernard Madoff fraud case only “slowly”. The case of an investment fund based on a Ponzi fraud, which came to light in 2008, was the largest fraud ever known worldwide, with damages of more than 50 billion euros and 4,800 victims. In Austria, certificates worth around two billion were sold via Bank Medici and the then bright red Bank Austria. While the American proceedings surrounding Madoff continued quickly and rigorously, Radasztics and another prosecutor stopped the investigation against the red bankers at the time.
The Minister of Justice remains silent about all allegations. So far, she has consistently declined interview requests. Position: It is important to allow the judiciary to “work independently”.
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.
