Tiroler Tageszeitung, editorial from August 19, 2023. By Wolfgang Sablatnig: "More than a false statement".

2023-08-18 20:01:05

Vienna (OTS) – The dispute between Sebastian Kurz, the ÖVP and the corruption prosecutor’s office is weighing on trust in the rule of law. The factual clarification of facts is all too often pushed into the background.

When Sebastian Kurz, Bernhard Bonelli and Bettina Glatz-Kremsner appear in court in Vienna from October 18th, it is about more than the accusation of false testimony before the Ibiza investigative committee. It is about a fundamental dispute that is bitterly fought. In short, his confidants and the entire ÖVP have been targeting the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) for a long time. Kurz himself gave the go-ahead during a background discussion.
Allegations against the judiciary are not an invention of Kurz and the ÖVP. In the 1980s, when prominent SPÖ politicians were on trial, it was the Social Democrats who worked their way through judges and public prosecutors.
What was new in recent years was the intensity of preoccupation with the judiciary and its alleged political bias. Two committees of inquiry contributed to this, through which many details about the investigations after the Ibiza video were made public.
How do you feel about the WKStA? This question became the new crucial question in domestic politics and in the coalition. The Green Justice Minister Alma Zadić, who accuses the Turquoise Blacks of not having their department under control, is also being targeted by the ÖVP. Negotiations on a new structure for the judiciary are stuck.
The reputation of the entire judiciary suffers. The independence of courts and prosecutors – an indispensable basis of their work – is questioned by many. And when in the case of the former FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache two acquittals of corruption allegations follow, the critics of the WKStA are only too happy to see their allegations confirmed. However, the more the independence is called into question, the more trust falls. In the rule of law, this is fatal.
Conversely, the same applies: the more violent the attacks on the WKStA, the more absolute the defense. The prosecutors also need a critical appraisal of their work and quality control. It is also clear that quasi-public investigations represent a great burden for those affected.
The proceedings against Kurz, Bonelli and Glatz-Kremsner take place against this charged background. It could mark the end. What is supposed to serve to clarify allegations objectively threatens to degenerate into a showdown. In the worst case, all opponents will leave the field after being hit. Not a good perspective.