Postenschacher trial
Date known: Wöginger has to stand trial again
ÖVP party chairman August Wöginger will soon be on trial again. The Linz regional court has announced that the proceedings will continue on February 11. A new verdict could then be reached in April at the latest.
The trial against ÖVP party chairman August Wöginger and two civil servants for abuse of authority will enter its second round on February 11 at the Linz provincial court. After the diversion for ÖVP party chairman August Wöginger and two co-defendant tax officials was overturned by the Linz Higher Regional Court, they will have to stand trial again in February. Several dates have been set - a verdict is to be reached on April 21.
This is what he is accused of
As is well known, there had been fierce criticism of the diversion for the ÖVP grandee. A payment of 44,000 euros in return for which he was supposed to get off scot-free. The Upper Austrian Wöginger was accused of having preferred a party colleague to a better qualified person when filling a management position at the tax office in Braunau.
Wöginger wants to stay
Wöginger himself emphasized that even in the event of a first-instance conviction for abuse of office, he wanted to remain ÖVP party leader. However, he is "assuming an acquittal" in the now continued proceedings and is therefore "confident about the next days of the trial", said Wöginger. "I have done nothing wrong", he emphasized.
Criticism from the other parties
Criticism came from the People's Party's pink coalition partner: Neos General Secretary Douglas Hoyos once again emphasized that the allegations were not a "trivial offence". What had happened in the Braunau case was "politically unacceptable", as Hoyos explained to ZIB. Felix Eypeltauer, the Upper Austrian state spokesperson for the Neos party, was more drastic in his criticism: "Anyone who wants to remain club chairman of a governing party even in the event of a possible conviction is damaging trust in hundreds of people who work honestly and reliably in politics."
For Leonore Gewessler, federal spokesperson and club leader of the Greens, the developments in the case "show once again that the ÖVP's jubilation at the acquittal was politically and factually misplaced". The independent judiciary should be able to work without being shouted down, "and I have the utmost confidence that this trial will be conducted with care". As far as the political consequences are concerned, Gewessler would have made a different decision to Wöginger, she said in a press release.
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