15 months for bribery for the former vice-chancellor, 12 months for the owner of a private clinic – that was the first ruling of the Vienna Regional Court in August 2021. But the higher regional court overturned the rulings: there were exculpatory reports that didn’t get enough credit.
Strache again appears as a defendant before the regional court of Vienna: the “Prikraf” trial against him and Walter Grubmüller – owner of the private clinic Währing – has to be repeated. The WKStA suspects “cash against the law” after a donation of 12,000 euros from the clinic operator to the FPÖ. Instead, I was admitted into the Prikraf Private Hospital Financing Fund with a simple direct settlement with the insurance companies.
Chat messages really illuminate
The ex-vice chancellor and the head of the clinic vehemently pleaded “not guilty” and were convicted anyway. The Vienna Higher Regional Court granted their appeal: the first verdict was contradictory. It’s hard to believe in times like these – but in this case there were actually exculpatory chat messages that didn’t get enough credit. The verdict was quashed and must be retried. Two days are planned for this in the “Landl”, 21 and 24 November.
Acquittal in another trial
The “Prikraf” trial was the start of criminal proceedings against Heinz-Christian Strache and the first court hearing after the Ibiza affair, which, it is known, blew up the turquoise-blue government. In a second bribery trial there were – not yet final – acquittals for the ex-Vice-Chancellor and the Upper Austrian entrepreneur Siegfried Stieglitz. Here too, donations would have flowed to an association near FP, for which Stieglitz would have been given a long-awaited commissionership. But according to the verdict, the soup is too thin for a conviction…
It remains to be seen if Strache can breathe easy. Because the next black denunciation clouds are rising, which are called “FPÖ Cost Affair”.
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.
