“Represent the Facts” – ex-ELGA boss on stage with Corona cursers

The event under the motto “RKI files and Corona protocols in Vienna” is a meeting of known opponents of Corona protection measures. The evening will be opened by the German financial scientist Stefan Homburg. He had brought the German government close to a dictatorship due to the Covid measures, appeared at lateral thinking demonstrations during the pandemic and told “lies” against the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), which was charged with developing accused protective measures. Homburg also claims that there was no pandemic.

Wendler lawyer on stage
Another participant is the German lawyer Markus Haintz, who is popular in the lateral thinkers and corona skeptic scene and represents the pop singer Michael Wendler, who also spread conspiracy myths about Corona.

Andreas Sönnichsen is also on stage: in 2020 he doubted the danger of Covid-19 and called for an end to the measures. The Meduni Vienna, where Sönnichsen worked at the Center for Public Health, distanced itself from his statements. When he later publicly expressed his views again, the university terminated the contract with the scientist, who also spoke out against vaccination and issued online certificates proving his eligibility for vaccination.

Greens distance themselves from the club
The evening is organized by the GGI association, originally the “Greens against compulsory vaccination”, now the “Green Association for Fundamental Rights and Freedom of Information”. Co-founder and well-known member is the former federal spokeswoman for the Green Party, Madeleine Petrovic. Your Green Party membership has been suspended. The club also has nothing to do with the Greens, Green club leader Sigrid Maurer told krone.tv in January. Petrovic will also be on stage in the evening. In January 2022, Petrovic denounced mandatory vaccination and the spread of conspiracy myths during a demonstration.

Also represented on stage is the former director of ELGA GmbH, Franz Leisch. Leisch is now a digitalization expert at the health policy platform “Praevenire” and is running for this year’s National Council elections on the SPÖ Lower Austrian list. krone.at reached Leisch on the way to the event in Vienna-Penzing.

“Finding clear words”
He explained to krone.at that he understands that the whole matter is “controversial” but that he wanted to represent “the side of science and facts” at the event. He will ‘find very clear words’ for critical statements made by his interlocutors. Like them, he was against mandatory vaccination, but always in favor of the corona vaccination. He also shares the opinion that not all measures were correct, according to Leisch. He also believes that the government has not done what is necessary to tackle the Corona crisis.

Minister Rauch a ‘mufti’
The then head of ELGA pointed out in 2022 that the introduction of mandatory vaccination was not yet technically feasible and would also not be proportionate. At the time, the SPÖ was in favor of compulsory vaccination; he and other party members were outvoted, Leisch said. With mandatory vaccination, “people will lose out,” he said. You can only counter this with education. Leisch sharply criticizes Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens). This is a “Mufti who commands from above,” and that is why he is pushing more and more people to their limits. The management whose representatives will also speak on Tuesday evening.