International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) appoints interim director

2023-07-28 17:00:25

After anonymous allegations against the head of the IACA, he was unanimously suspended by the IACA board. The chief of staff was appointed interim head.

Laxenburg (OTS) – In a board meeting on Tuesday, the board of the IACA unanimously decided to suspend the dean of the academy, Mr. Thomas Stelzer, with immediate effect. The Academy’s chief of staff, Mr. Jaroslaw Pietrusiewicz, was entrusted with the continuation of business.

This decision was preceded by the fact that the IACA was informed by the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BMEIA) that anonymous criminal allegations had been made against Mr. Thomas Stelzer for alleged misappropriation of IACA funds and that the Austrian authorities were considering opening a criminal investigation into these allegations .

It is important for the IACA to state at this point that the anonymous criminal allegations were brought against Mr. Stelzer as a person and not against the IACA itself. Since the Academy is not a party to the criminal proceedings, it has no knowledge of the exact allegations. In order for the Austrian authorities to initiate the investigation, the IACA lifted Mr. Thomas Stelzer’s immunity.

The presumption of innocence naturally applies to Mr Stelzer. Nevertheless, on July 25, 2023, the IACA Board of Directors unanimously decided to suspend Mr. Stelzer, as the Board believes that even if the anonymous allegations should not lead to an indictment, they are a strong one on the part of the IACA as an anti-corruption academy require institutional response. The suspension of the Dean is an interim administrative measure to ensure that the Austrian authorities can initiate and conduct the investigation against the Dean in a transparent manner and without any suspicion of a conflict of interest. In addition, the IACA has taken the necessary steps to launch an internal investigation into the allegations.