Local leader breathes a sigh of relief

Hallein: public prosecutor closes all investigations

Mayor Alexander Stangassinger breathes a sigh of relief after the public prosecutor's office dropped the charges.(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

Since 2022, the Salzburg public prosecutor's office has been conducting various investigations against Hallein's SPÖ mayor Alexander Stangassinger. The accusations: breach of trust, abuse of office, violation of official secrecy and much more. All proceedings have now been discontinued.

The mayor of Hallein, Alexander Stangassinger, was accused of around 14 offenses by opposition politicians and officials. Embezzlement, abuse of office, breach of official secrecy or violation of data protection: the list was long and the file grew thicker month by month. Now the public prosecutor's office has closed all investigations against the head of Hallein. 

"The investigations were based on politically motivated complaints. My client cooperated fully with the authorities from the outset and we were quickly able to demonstrate that he had always behaved in a legally correct manner."

Johannes Zink, Anwalt des Bürgermeisters

Lawyer Johannes Zink sees politically motivated complaints as the basis for the investigations.(Bild: HBA Rechtsanwälte)

Stangassinger: "Reject politics with charges as a matter of principle."
The mayor's lawyer, Johannes Zink, says: "I can confirm that all investigations against my client have been dropped. The investigations were based on politically motivated complaints. My client cooperated fully with the authorities from the outset and we were quickly able to demonstrate that he had always behaved in a legally correct manner." 

Stangassinger himself says: "It's a shame that in recent years there have been repeated attempts to play politics with criminal charges. I fundamentally reject that kind of thing. I'm relieved, of course, because even if you know you haven't done anything wrong, you always have such investigations in the back of your mind."