Diversion overturned

Wöginger back in court: “Remain club chairman”

ÖVP party chairman August Wöginger(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

On Wednesday, the Higher Regional Court in Linz overturned the diversion for ÖVP party chairman August Wöginger, so the post shake-up trial will be reopened. Wöginger himself continues to see himself as blameless, he only accepted the diversion in order to "quickly return to his work". He has no intention of resigning: "Of course I will remain club chairman!"

Wöginger had been accused of abusing his official powers; the ÖVP party leader had finally been granted a diversion in the "post haggling case". The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) then lodged a complaint, which was upheld. 

"I have done nothing wrong"
At a press conference alongside his lawyer on Friday, Wöginger made a point in the direction of the anti-corruption fighters and the judiciary: "I am surprised that the Higher Regional Court is now overturning what was offered to me by the court itself. The WKStA also agreed to the diversion at the time. Nevertheless, the appeal was lodged."

Wöginger was convinced that he would ultimately emerge from the trial as a blameless man: "I have done nothing wrong." So why did he accept diversion, which requires the acceptance of responsibility for an offense? "In order to be able to devote myself to my work as party chairman again as quickly as possible."

ÖVP party chairman August Wöginger is not aware of any guilt.(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

Wöginger never wants to have intervened
According to the ÖVP politician, the fact that he handed over the application documents of an ÖVP mayor for the board of the tax office for Braunau, Ried and Schärding to the then Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance, Thomas Schmid, and then also "asked once" was not an intervention: "I never intervened." Nevertheless, he would not do it in the same way today. 

The mayor had come to his office hours at the time and had his application documents with him, which he then simply "took with him to Vienna" and handed over to Thomas Schmid at a chance meeting in parliament. "You're often not even responsible for the issues that are raised in the politicians' office hours. That's why we then pass them on to the relevant departments."

"Expect an outright acquittal"
And yes, he had told Schmid that he considered the mayor to be a suitable candidate, said Wöginger. However, at that time he had neither known that there were other candidates nor who they were. "That was the end of the matter for me."

Wöginger and his lawyer Michael Rohregger emphasized in unison that they were confident going into the trial: "We expect an outright acquittal." 

The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) had charged Wöginger and two tax officials with abuse of authority after a better qualified competitor for the said tax office post was not offered the job. The co-accused tax officials sat on the appointment committee.

However, the expected mega-trial failed to materialize for the time being - the three defendants, who had previously denied the allegations, declared an "acceptance of responsibility" and asked for diversion. With the payment of five-figure fines - 44,000 euros for Wöginger, 17,000 and 22,000 euros for the other two - the proceedings were then suspended until the Linz Higher Regional Court reached its decision.