Austria: Dismay after the death of a doctor

Doctor Kellermayr worked to the point of exhaustion for people infected with Corona and vehemently advocated compulsory vaccination. What followed was hate and agitation, from which she felt little protection. Her sudden death sparked heated debates in Austria.

Austria’s Health Minister Johannes Rauch and many others were dismayed at the news of the death of doctor Lisa-Maria Kellermayr in Upper Austria. The family doctor had become known nationwide after she had been massively threatened by opponents of vaccination in the heated and hateful discussion about compulsory vaccination in Austria. She went public. Austria’s interior minister promised protection.

“This hate has to stop”

The doctor became a symbol for all people in medical professions who work to the brink of exhaustion for people infected with corona and vehemently advocated compulsory vaccination as effective protection against the virus.

“This hatred must finally stop,” Health Minister Rauch wrote on Twitter. The doctor “devoted her life to the health and well-being of others. Death threats against her and her employees were brutal reality”.

Vienna’s Mayor Michael Ludwig, who is also a staunch advocate of vaccination, writes that he is “deeply affected” by the death of the dedicated doctor, who had to close her practice due to massive threats.

And Federal President Alexander van der Bellen said: “My thoughts are with the family and friends of Dr. Maria Lisa-Kellermayr. Hatred and intolerance have no place in our Austria.”

A memorial for the doctor at the central Stephansplatz in Vienna’s city center has been registered for Monday evening.

Serious allegations against the police

Politicians and authorities are, however, also confronted with severe criticism. Police and prosecutors investigating the death threats are accused of reacting too late and doing too little.

The respected Austrian journalist Ingrid Brodnig, author of the book “Hate on the Net. What we can do against hate speech, bullying and lies”, tweeted, in addition to condolences, the recommendation that the executive must “define their own actions or non-actions in this clear up the case”.

Florian Klenk, editor-in-chief of the Viennese weekly newspaper “Falter”, who knew the doctor well and said he had spoken to her on the phone for hours, describes a woman who was “traumatized, shocked, scared”. Because of the hate she was met with online and because of the lack of help from the police and authorities, as she felt.

Death threats and massive hostilities

They speak for many in Austria, the Kellermayr case was a political issue even before her sudden death. The doctor had recently closed her practice for good. Her reasoning: Working conditions “like the ones we have experienced in the last few months” cannot be expected of anyone. Because of the constant threats, she recently hired an armed security guard at her own expense.

Investigations stopped too quickly?

According to the police, she was under police protection for a long time. It was heavily criticized that the public prosecutor’s office in Wels had dropped investigation proceedings against a suspect from Germany on the grounds that they were not responsible. A computer activist then – according to her own statements without any major problems – identified two suspects who are said to have written threatening emails against the doctor. This triggered a heated discussion in Austria about how the authorities would deal with the case.

The competent state police department in Upper Austria rejects criticism. You have been in constant contact with the doctor since last November and you have tried to offer her protection. Everything that was possible was done. And: One continues to investigate, looking for the originators of the threats on the Internet.

Prosecutors do not assume acts of violence

The doctor was found dead in her practice in the Vöcklabruck district on Friday. The public prosecutor’s office said there were farewell letters, but they didn’t want to say anything about their content. The public prosecutor’s office rules out an act of violence and confirms a suicide.