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The mobile phone of the chief prosecutor in Vienna, Johann Fuchs, has been seized. This was stated by the APA spokesman for the Innsbruck prosecutor’s office and confirmed a report from the “Kleine Zeitung”. The reason for the measure is the “suspicion of violation of official secrecy” by Fuchs for his statements to inform members of the government about the house raids of ministers in the investigative commission of the Ibiza Parliament.
In his interrogation in committee last week, Fuchs had confirmed, at the request of the leader of the NEOS parliamentary group, Stephanie Krisper, to inform the justice department about the “envisaged coercive measures”. NEOS and FPÖ had already requested its suspension before that.
According to the preliminary protocol of his survey, Fuchs argued that the time factor in communication is essential, especially in “clamorous cases.” Therefore, it is also important that the head of the department, that is, the Ministry of Justice, “has an overview of these procedural steps very quickly.” The leaders there “sooner or later come closer to the fact that the Judiciary is conducting a raid, and in my opinion it will be too late by then.” After all, both members of the government sit together in the Cabinet, said Fuchs, who was considered the shop steward of suspended section chief Christian Pilnacek and, like the latter, has a long conflict with the business prosecutor’s office. and corruption.
According to his testimony in the investigative committee, Fuchs had emphasized to the APA that he was only referring to the justice department, which was being briefed. Also, he did not mean that this should be reported in advance. NEOS interprets the statement differently, especially since the director of OStA was clearly asked about “planned measures”. “Fuchs did not want to deny a modus operandi that is repeatedly unacceptable,” parliamentary group leader Krisper said in a broadcast Monday.
For this reason, the NEOS are now calling for Fuchs’ suspension, because “this action carries the inherent risk that coercive measures, such as house searches, will be betrayed beforehand in the political environment.” In particular, the opposition party is also concerned about possible agreements with section chief Christian Pilnacek, for example in the case of ÖBAG chief Thomas Schmid.
The chairman of the FPÖ parliamentary group in the Ibiza investigation commission, Christian Hafenecker, also renewed his demand on the Minister of Justice, Werner Kogler (Greens), to extract legal consequences against the head of the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office. “From my point of view, a temporary suspension, as has also happened with Pilnacek, is inevitable,” he wrote in a broadcast, because Pilnacek and Fuchs are “communicating vessels.”
The ÖVP reacts indignantly. “Exactly those who always exercise political influence in the judiciary are now deepening their work with personnel demands,” Wolfgang Gerstl, leader of the parliamentary group at the U-Committee, said in a broadcast.
