Deletion demanded

Secret Pilnacek tape: widow sues tape maker

The widow - she is the president of the Graz Regional Criminal Court - of the deceased former head of the justice section Christian Pilnacek is suing the man who secretly made recordings of a conversation with content critical of the Austrian People's Party. 

According to her lawyer, Caroline List-Pilnacek wants to protect her husband's post-mortem personal rights and is now suing for the deletion of the recording, the news magazine "profil" reported on Saturday.

In the recording, Pilnacek, who was suspended at the time, accuses several ÖVP politicians, including National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka, of having intervened in clamorous judicial cases.

Pilnacek emphasized in the interview that he had never given in to these interventions. Those affected deny the allegations.

Investigations into the misuse of listening devices
The public prosecutor's office is presumably investigating the businessman who made the recording on the basis of Section 120 of the Criminal Code ("misuse of listening devices").

Caroline List was married to the lawyer Christian Pilnacek, who died on October 20, 2023. Here in an archive photo from 2017(Bild: APA/ERWIN SCHERIAU)

Found dead near Krems
Pilnacek was found dead in the night of 20 October near Krems after a police check in which his driver's license had been confiscated. He had been suspended since 2021 due to an initial suspicion of betrayal of official secrecy. Although the Federal Disciplinary Commission lifted the suspension for the time being, it was confirmed again in the next higher instances.

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