The prosecutors have three days after the verdict has been announced to appeal against the judge’s verdict. As it has now become known, the public prosecutor’s office for business and corruption has made use of its right and objected to the judgment against Heinz-Christian Strache and Walter Grubmller. Strache and Grubmller also announced a “full appeal” immediately after the verdict was pronounced last Friday.
The former FP chairman was sentenced to 15 months conditional imprisonment during a three-year probationary period for corruption. Grubmller, who had transferred a total of 12,000 euros to the federal FP, which the judge saw as a bribe in return for changes to the private hospital financing fund, received a conditional penalty of 12 months. Judge Claudia Moravec-Loidolt justified the different penalties with the fact that Strache had been a public official.
Strache was shocked by the verdict, but the prosecutor sees the situation differently. She complained about the insufficient range of sentences. The WKStA did not appeal against the two partial acquittals for Strache and Grubmller, however, they are final. On the one hand, it was an invitation from Grubmller to Strache to Corfu, which should have been issued in April 2018. Strache had never embarked on such a journey. In addition, the WKStA had accused Grubmller of having offered Strache another donation before the European elections. The evidence was too scanty for that too.
It should take another two months for the judge to issue the verdict, and then the parties have four weeks to formulate the appeal.
