In the midst of the week of protests against the justice system, a major bombshell could be on the horizon. Ninety-five percent of hearings have been canceled; only urgent trials and detention hearings are taking place. As the “Krone” has learned, one such hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Innsbruck. It concerns what is currently probably the most well-known inmate at Ziegelstadl: the fallen real estate mogul René Benko. After 628 days in custody, he wants to leave prison—wearing an ankle monitor.

Hearing in Tyrol
In response to an inquiry from the “Krone,” Benko’s attorney, Norbert Wess, confirmed that he has filed a motion to have pretrial detention served under electronically monitored house arrest and also that, for the first time, the detention review hearing will take place in Tyrol rather than in Vienna. He declined to comment further. The hearing before a single judge will not be open to the public.

But what led to this move? As reported, Benko was sentenced a few weeks ago in Innsbruck to 30 months in prison for fraudulent bankruptcy—a verdict that has become final. The court found it proven that Benko intentionally set aside assets shortly before the collapse of his business empire in order to shield them from his creditors. The sentence pertained, on the one hand, to a gift to his mother and an advance rent payment for the villa on Innsbruck’s Hungerburg. 

Two-thirds of the sentence served
Shortly after the sentencing, Benko had served two-thirds of his sentence. Since the court could not identify any special preventive grounds that would preclude Benko from serving the two-thirds sentence—and since general preventive grounds could no longer be invoked following a change in the law—it accepted the two-thirds sentence. Thus, the Tyrolean has served his first prison term and has been returned to pretrial detention. This is because the WKStA is investigating the Signa founder in more than a dozen different lines of inquiry. His next trial, scheduled for early November, concerns charges of aggravated fraud and fraudulent bankruptcy. This time, the case revolves around the “Faktum Haselsteiner” affair and a hunting rifle.  

Should René Benko actually be allowed to leave prison, this would not constitute either a reduction in his sentence or early release. Rather, he would continue his pretrial detention not in prison but while wearing an ankle monitor. And he would await his next criminal trial in his private surroundings under strict conditions. 

This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.