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Judge Marion Hohenecker, as chair of the jury senate, led the trial against former finance minister Karl-Heinz Grasser and 14 other defendants related to alleged corruption in the federal housing privatization and other cases for nearly three years. At the start of the trial in December 2017, the judge continued to be the subject of requests for partiality from defense attorneys for Grasser and Walter Meischberger, but at the end of the main hearing she was showered with praise.
The 39-year-old judge became the target of attacks from Grasser and Meischberger’s defense attorneys even before the main hearing began through tweets from her husband, who had previously voiced criticism of Grasser on Twitter. The senate president of the lay judge announced dryly, and rejected the motions of partiality against her, and could not put the opinion of a husband against a judge, it was not in accordance with the spirit of the age.
The calm negotiation of the lawyer, who was always perfectly prepared and kept an overview of a huge court file and three charges combined in a mega trial, shaped the mega corruption process. Ms. Rat allowed defense attorneys and defendants to finish speaking, although their presentations often lasted many hours and were extensive in content. Hohenecker did not show what he thought of the statements. Sometimes, however, he would ask specific questions afterward and then ask questions. He tried to stop booing outraged defense attorneys or defendants early on.
In his last words, the first defendant Grasser noted with appreciation that the judge even knew the date of his wedding day better than he did because he immediately corrected the incorrect date that he had mentioned. Fortunately, he didn’t realize that at home, he joked. The lay judge, and in particular its president, had restored the trust in the judiciary that he would have lost in the investigation.
As a witness spoke of a “game of chance” in the privatization of federal housing, the judge did not allow herself to look at the cards in the process, which now took almost three years. She also remained completely secretive in the media, a big difference for BAWAG trial judge Claudia Bandion-Ortner, who was happy to give interviews and was appointed Minister of Justice after the BAWAG trial. But his BAWAG ruling was only partially upheld in the appeals court, and the process had to be partially repeated.
Judge Hohenecker, on the other hand, has a reputation for highly accurate litigation and meticulously prepared judgments that can no longer be overturned at court. You cannot say that you are ashamed to condemn the big names, on the contrary. Several celebrities from business and politics have already been sentenced for her, and the trials have withstood higher court scrutiny. But it also acquitted the defendants if the accusations against them could not be proven, for example in the Y-Line case.
The main hearing is over. As a precautionary measure, the judge has reserved five consecutive Fridays in November and early December in the great room of the jury court of the Vienna Criminal Court.
Married to a judge, Hohenecker (née Zöllner) began her criminal justice career at the prosecutor’s office. On September 1, 2009, it was taken over by the Vienna Prosecutor’s Office. Two years later, he moved to the regional court, where in December 2011 he was assigned a negotiating department for white collar crimes. He was born in Wolfsberg, Carinthia, and has not lost his light Carinthian language in Vienna for many years.
Those: APA
