At the beginning of the third day of the trial in the Vienna Regional Court, Helmut Grubmüller, Walter Grubmüller’s defense lawyer, confirmed another donation from the clinic operator in the amount of 2,000 euros to the FPÖ in 2016, which was only known the day before. The first witness was ex-FPÖ health spokeswoman Dagmar Belakowitsch.
The charge against Strache is that the ex-FPÖ boss is said to have ensured that Grubmüller’s clinic was included in the so-called private hospital financing fund (PRIKRAF) during the turquoise-blue coalition. As a result, the facility was able to offset benefits directly with the social security funds. In return for the amendment to the ASVG and the PRIKRAF law, Grubmüller is said to have transferred a donation of 10,000 euros to the Federal FPÖ on August 29, 2017. Both defendants deny the allegations.
Belakovich was also asked how she had been confronted with the PRIKRAF issue. She was only briefly dealt with during a press conference, then the topic went to her colleague, the lawyer Johannes Huebner. In terms of content, it was about the “injustice” that several private clinics had been excluded from the PRIKRAF – the Währing private clinic was only one example of this.
After Belakowitsch, ex-Health Minister Beate Hartinger-Klein (FPÖ) was invited as a witness. Before the interview of the former head of department, which is planned for 11.30 a.m., an FPÖ club employee will probably be asked, among other things, about the origin of the FPÖ initiative application, which proposed the inclusion of all private clinics in the PRIKRAF. In the afternoon, two former heads of cabinet from the Hartinger-Klein and Straches cabinets follow as witnesses. Then the ex-General Secretary Straches in the Vice Chancellery, Roland Weinert, will conclude.
Judge Claudia Moravec-Loidolt is aiming for a verdict on Friday – but whether the timetable will run out is open. The core of the indictment is the accusation that Strache is said to have ensured that Grubmüller’s clinic was included in the so-called private hospital financing fund (PRIKRAF) during the turquoise-blue coalition. In return for changes to the ASVG and the PRIKRAF law, Grubmüller is said to have transferred a donation of 10,000 euros to the Federal FPÖ on August 29, 2017. Both defendants deny the allegations.
