Status: 07/06/2021 9:50 a.m.
He always acted out of conviction, says ex-FPÖ boss Strache about himself. Now he is on trial for corruption. He faces five years imprisonment – and two years after Ibiza another embarrassment.
From Andrea Beer,
ARD studio Vienna
A trial of bribery against Heinz-Christian Strache, the former FPÖ boss and Vice Chancellor of the then turquoise-blue Austrian federal government, begins today before the Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters. Strache is said to have influenced the legislation for his businessman friend Walter G. – to the financial advantage of G’s private beauty clinic in Vienna. This should show, among other things, numerous chats that were found on Strache’s cell phone.
In it, Strache asks, for example, which law would be important for fair treatment. Strache denies all allegations in the boulevard broadcaster oe24:
I know that in my life I have always acted out of conviction. I know that in my life I have never been corrupt. I know that I have never been bribed in my life and I am very confident that the wrong allegations will be cleared up in a factual manner.
Holidays in Corfu for beneficial laws
The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office sees it differently in the indictment. Strache is said to have campaigned for a change in the law in the National Council, which clinic owner Walter G. used. According to the indictment, he returned the favor: He is said to have invited Strache and his wife Philippa to his weekend house in Corfu – including arrival and departure in a private jet. In addition, Walter G. donated 10,000 euros to the FPÖ. He is also in the dock on charges of bribery.
After the change in the law, his private clinic was included in the so-called “financing fund for private hospitals”: a coveted pot that was increased by 15 million euros in 2018. Since then, the Wiener Privatklinik has been able to use a piece of the billions of dollars from the social security system when it comes to billing services.
How and with whom do private clinics settle accounts was also an issue last October before the so-called Ibiza Committee of Inquiry of the Austrian National Council. This investigates a presumed buyability of the turquoise-blue federal government of Sebastian Kurz. The leader of the Social Democrats in the U-Committee is Jan Krainer. He not only sees ex-FPÖ boss Strache, but also the ÖVP of party leader Kurz as part of a system from which some would benefit and others would not: In order to “get the big money”, as he says, there were legislative changes and contracts Social insurances were given – and “various FPÖ politicians” would have wanted to prevent “someone else who does not belong here also getting into the system. It cannot be that one can influence politics through donations.”
“FPÖ cannot even corruption”
The private clinic owner Walter G., who was accused of bribery, also felt himself and his private clinic blocked by an ÖVP environment. Just because he did not pay bribes to ÖVP-affiliated Chamber of Commerce officials or ÖVP lobbyists, he was not included in the coveted financial fund, said Walter G. in the Ibiza committee of inquiry. ÖVP and the Chamber of Commerce vigorously deny this.
In the Strache trial, the court wants to question numerous witnesses, including the former FPÖ health minister Beate Hartinger-Klein, several representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and operators of private clinics.
The Green politician Nina Tomaselli sees it this way: “HC Strache as Vice Chancellor has really worked hard for his donor, for his friend. Either he has been properly led around or the FPÖ is not even good at corruption.”
Four days of negotiations are scheduled
The trial against Strache is another expression of his deep fall: in mid-2019, he had to resign as Vice Chancellor and FPÖ party leader because of the Ibiza affair and the secretly filmed video on the island of Ibiza also brought about the end of the turquoise-blue government under Chancellor Kurz . Strache’s justification for the evening with a supposed oligarch niece will also not be forgotten:
In a seven-hour private conversation I was – yes, taking advantage of increasing alcoholism – and yes, it was a drunk story and I was tempted in an intimate atmosphere to polemic about anything and everything, even without reflection and with a loose tongue. And yes, what I said was soberly catastrophic and downright embarrassing.
In the bribery process, Strache should have his say on the first day of the negotiation. A total of four days of negotiations are scheduled for the time being. If he is finally convicted, he faces up to five years imprisonment.