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The U-Committee met for the first time in strict lockdown. Thomas Drozda (SPÖ) told how they offered him the video. ÖVP donations were also a problem.
Not all MPs were satisfied on Wednesday with the way the commission of inquiry into the Ibiza Cause was supposed to meet: it was the first day of interrogations in a total lockdown, after all. In fact, the FPÖ had spoken out in favor of the committee’s interruption: informants could reject their summons so as not to become infected with Corona. Kathrin Glock, wife of weapons manufacturer Gaston Glock, would be the information person for Thursday. She canceled (again) for health reasons. However, I would agree to his questioning about his relationship with the FPÖ via video.
The U-Committee still meets exclusively in person, but no longer in pub 7 of the Hofburg, but in the larger event hall “Camineum” in the national library. In the late afternoon, the questioning of former Chancellor Thomas Drozda (SPÖ) was on the program. A few weeks ago, he told the prosecutor that he had been offered the Ibiza 2017 video, for six million euros. Drozda declined the offer in writing, the “press” reported.
Now he told more details about the offer, before the Ibiza investigation commission. Drozda was summoned to provide information shortly before 6 pm By the way, it was the first day of the survey in strict lockdown. For this purpose, the deputies moved from pub 7 in the Hofburg to the largest camineum in the national library.
But let’s go back to Drozda. Like almost everyone who gave information, he had turned up with someone he could trust: lawyer Alfred Noll, previously a member of Pilz’s list. Drozda told the deputies how they offered him the Ibiza video. Former member of the SPÖ board of directors, Nikolaus Pelinka, mediated between the party leadership and lawyer M. Pelinka told then-SPÖ leader Christian Kern that he knew someone who had incriminating material about the then-FPÖ politicians , Heinz-Christian Strache and Johann Gudenus. Kern asked Drozda to look into the matter; met with attorney M. Drozda and signed a confidentiality agreement. M. told him about the incriminating material, including Strache’s expenses. According to Drozda, no movie was seen, but a photo with a bag full of cash. “I found it all strange and kind of silky.”
Later, SPÖ’s lawyer, Michael Pilz, met again with M., says Drozda. He was also able to see short sequences of the Ibizan evening and heard the price: six million euros. After consulting with the party leadership, Pilz informed M. in writing in May 2018: They were not interested that the material could contain “issues of criminal relevance”. Therefore, the information must be passed on to the prosecution. So Drozda didn’t hear about the video again until it was released.
Sebastian Kurz invited home as a guest speaker
Teresa Pagitz was previously invited – manager, tourism expert, lawyer and participant in various companies. In 2018 he also became a member of the supervisory board of ÖBB. As you emphasized, this has nothing to do with your donations to the ÖVP. Pagitz donated 15,000 euros each in election years 2017 and 2019. She “never expected benefits” from the donations.
Once, in January 2017, he organized a meeting with friends at home and invited Sebastian Kurz to be a guest speaker. He had come too. Pagitz, however, was reluctant to name other guests. It was his private business, he said.
Parliamentary groups on the inquiry commission also issued so-called “subpoenas” for future informants on Wednesday. The SPÖ and Neos (the two parties that started the U-Committee) want to question former vice chancellor and head of the ÖVP Reinhold Mitterlehner. According to the leader of the SPÖ parliamentary group, Jan Krainer, Mitterlehner knows “closely how the Kurz system works”.
The Neos also want to request that the Glock be recharged under the threat of an official demonstration. Helmut Brandstätter, MP for Neos, suggests interviewing them in an adjoining room via video link.
ÖVP wants to load the kernel
The ÖVP also wants to see a new person on the U-Committee: the former Chancellor and head of the SPÖ, Christian Kern. The leader of the ÖVP parliamentary group, Wolfgang Gerstl, wants to clarify Kern’s role in the Ibiza video. After all, Drozda met with the Viennese lawyer on his behalf, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the video.
(APA / red. “Die Presse”, print edition, November 26, 2020)
