Emotional Plea – Day 1 in the Chorherr Trial: Bickering Over the Evidence

The majority of the ten defendants, some of whom were prominent, showed themselves demonstratively relaxed in the mega-trial against ex-Greens Christoph Chorherr. But the tension of all involved was clearly noticeable in the large courtroom of the Viennese court. After all, it is a process that gives direction. The focus is on the long-standing Viennese Greens council, which faces charges of “abuse of official power” and “bribery” to the jury.

Prosecutor: ‘We have the necessary evidence’
As a planning spokesperson and member of the housing committee, the 61-year-old had a major influence on the zoning plan in Vienna. At the beginning of the process, the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Business and Corruption casually suggested how things have gone under red-green in Vienna regarding zoning: “Donate to the association of the canon and you get the business center, the Triiiple, the Heumarkt etc,” said the prosecutor about the generous donations of the accused entrepreneurs from the real estate and investment sector to the choir conductors association “S2Arch”, which carries out school projects in South Africa. The public prosecutor is convinced that the donations have been used to advance real estate projects and to bring about city council decisions. “Of course it needs proof and we have that proof!”

Chorherr pleads innocent
Richard Soyer, counsel for the main defendant, strongly contradicts this in his opening statement: “Christoph Chorherr will plead not guilty,” he says, “My client was in no way guided by the benevolence of the donors. The worldview that resounds in the indictment is overly critical, almost irrelevant to Chorherr,” said Soyer. “If entrepreneurs think it’s decent to donate to a good cause, then that’s nothing objectionable,” he sees nothing but speculation about the accused ex-politician.

With Chorherr in the dock: Nine high-ranking businessmen from the real estate and investment industry. When asked by Judge Michael Tolstiuk what they earn monthly, almost all accused entrepreneurs answered: “I don’t want to make any statements about that.”

Business leaders deny the allegations
Property investor Michael Tojner’s defense attorney was the first to comment on the allegations. Tojner, like eight other defendants, is charged with “contributing to the abuse of official power” and “bribery”. According to the indictment, he allegedly “greased” Chorherr for a zoning plan for the megaproject Heumarkt: “Everything went according to plan – in an exemplary process that ran for years,” says Tojner’s lawyer Karl Liebenwein. Mr Chorherr, who was only one of the 100 councilors who voted for this modern project in 2016. There is also no indication that there has been any irregularity in the procedure or that any intervention has been made.”

The enormous added value of the Heumarkt project for the Viennese public – from the ice rink to the gymnasium – was the only basis for the decision on the zoning plan in the city council and certainly not the donations to the Chorherr-Verein. Tojner asks for acquittal.

“A very serious project”
Michael Rami, lawyer for the accused Wilhelm Hemetsberger, describes it in the same way. At a birthday party in 2008, long before the accused period, his client first became acquainted with the association “S2Arch”: “Mr Hemetsberger was completely enthusiastic about the project, traveled to South Africa for the first time in 2009 and was thus a long-term donor. The project is very serious and my client’s life project”, Rami sees no benefit for his client from the donations. “That is absurd”, he criticizes the prosecution and pleads – like all ten defendants – for acquittal.

Wess criticizes “undifferentiated charges”
“You have to look at and judge each constellation individually,” appealed to the lay judges Norbert Wess, attorney for the accused Erwin Soravia. He also admits “that the indictment has been shown to contain false and ambiguous statements. Christoph Chorherr was neither a planning councilor nor an executive member of the city council of Vienna, as erroneously stated there.” The donations to the school project in South Africa had absolutely nothing to do with the construction of the “Triiiiple” and “Danube Flats” projects, which are the subject of the charges. “Speculations are not allowed in the criminal process. We can speculate in the stock market, but not in court,” said Oliver Scherbaum, lawyer for Peter Steurer, who criticized the prosecution despite the lack of evidence.

Especially many pairs of eyes on Rene Benko
A particularly large number of pairs of eyes is on real estate juggler Rene Benko on Tuesday. The 45-year-old is charged in connection with a Signa donation of EUR 100,000 made on November 15, 2011 to the Chorherr-Verein. The special thing about Benko: According to the indictment, if he was convicted, he would have to take into account a judgment of the Regional Criminal Court of August 2013 in which he was sentenced to a suspended twelve-month prison sentence, which has since been discharged.

If found guilty, he would receive “just” an additional sentence. Attorney Stefan Prochaska: “This is an allegation that I have never seen in my 30 years as a lawyer,” he said in his plea to the prosecutor, “It contains no evidence against my client.” The jury court simultaneously distributed pieces of paper with a timeline, which are intended to show that the donation cannot have any connection with the “Hauptbahnhof Business Center” construction project mentioned in the indictment.

To be continued on November 14th
All in all, the “Landl” concerns donations of 1.6 million euros, which ended up in the Chorherr-Verein. It takes weeks for a decision to be made. There is a risk of heavy prison sentences. However, only if the WKStA can provide the announced proof. The trial will resume on November 14.