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The officer was not more precise, but what she put in the room was explosive. In the investigation of the Casinos case, there are indications that an attempt is being made to exercise political influence over its authority, said Ilse Vrabl-Sanda, head of the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA), in the Committee of the U of Ibiza on Thursday. She is not authorized to say more about this at a public media meeting. Failure to do so could also jeopardize criminal investigations.
His statement caused a stir and the meeting was interrupted. After deliberation, procedural judge Ronald Rohrer stated that the process was still “very young”. Therefore, you will first need to consult with the Ministry of Justice on how to proceed. What exactly the influence should be was discussed in a non-media public meeting on the committee.
When asked by the Wiener Zeitung, a justice department spokeswoman said she was not aware of any such proceedings: “We have nothing to do with it.” There are also no investigations against the head of the Vienna prosecutor, Johann Fuchs, and Christian Pilnacek, now head of the criminal law section.
Internal fights
Vrabl-Sanda indicated during questioning that he was not on good terms with the two senior officials. This is not surprising: there have been internal disputes between the authorities for some time.
The background: WKStA is subordinate to the Vienna Office of the Superior Prosecutor (OStA) and is subject to its instructions, while OStA Vienna is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice. Until his demotion by Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens), Pilnacek was responsible for the legal department, as well as technical supervision of the prosecution services.
Vrabl-Sanda has already complained several times that OStA Vienna covers WKStA with reporting obligations and prevents it from doing its actual work. OStA Vienna justified the stricter reporting obligations, among other things, with the failed raid on the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight Against Terrorism (BVT) in February 2018. This was ordered by the WKStA and it was not communicated to higher authorities before it took place. According to OStA Vienna, the incident necessitated the introduction of stricter information requirements.
The dispute escalated at a service meeting in spring 2019. Mutual reports from representatives of the authorities followed and no investigation was launched. Vrabl-Sanda also raised accusations against higher authorities in the U-Committee.
He explained that judicial cooperation in general works very well. Conflicts only exist in criminal law and there they only affect a small part. Namely, those of high-profile “politically permeated” procedures.
In this area, “the WKStA cannot work in peace,” said the head of the agency. He used to work in OStA oversight and now he can’t always understand their activities in Ibiza and casino investigations.
There are supervisory complaints against your employees and unwarranted records in your personnel files. The instructions from OStA Vienna were sometimes very unusual, said the head of authorities. According to Vrabl-Sanda, a colleague will be leaving WKStA due to escalation with technical supervision.
Vrabl-Sanda said there was a disciplinary measure against the employee and herself. However, it has now been removed from the personnel files on instructions from the Ministry of Justice.
Pilnacek Mail Traffic
According to Vrabl-Sanda, there were more negative media reports about the WKStA. Other departments of the judiciary had also spoken ill of his authority. In the summer of 2019, Pilnacek had asked in an email correspondence that was leaked in May 2020 for public relations work against the WKStA. When asked about these emails, Vrabl-Sanda said: This made it clear to him who could be behind the negative campaign.
Michael Klackl, chief prosecutor and spokesman for OStA Vienna, declined to comment on the allegations. Klackl is also not aware of any proceedings involving political influence at Causa Casinos. On Twitter, however, Johann Fuchs, director of OStA Vienna, said: “I strongly reject unfounded speculation of any kind about improper management on my part.”
