Interrogation underway – Strache trial: Judgment unlikely until July 29

Strache allegedly gave Stieglitz a commissionership in Asfinag, for which the indictment said a donation to an association close to the FPÖ was one of the decisive factors in the order process. According to the Public Prosecution Service for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKStA), an invitation to Stieglitz to Strache to a birthday party in Dubai also played a role, which Strache turned down. Stieglitz is charged with bribery, Strache with corruption.

At the start of the second day of the hearing, Stieglitz was still being questioned. He refused to answer questions from the public prosecutor – his lawyer Alexander Pollak had previously advised him to do so. “We now know it’s not working between us,” Stieglitz told the prosecutor.

“Neither held anything against Mr Strache, nor Mr Minister”
It wasn’t until Judge Mona Zink phrased the same question, in part verbatim, that Stieglitz answered—for example, why he’d used the word compensation in his chats after Stieglitz’s nomination to another board of directors had failed. The question arises as to whether he had a claim against Strache or had something on his hands. “I had nothing against Mr. Strache or against the minister (Norbert Hofer, he was the minister in charge of the department, mind you),” Stieglitz said.