“I have no role in the cause,” he said on Monday in the Vienna Labor and Social Court following a hearing on sexual harassment. He could rule out “one hundred percent” that there were manipulated surveys or benevolent reporting in return for advertisements: “We are victims and not perpetrators.”
Wolfgang Fellner and his brother Helmuth Fellner are listed as suspects in connection with bribery and breach of trust in the course of investigations by the Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA). They are said to have made advertising and media cooperation agreements with the Kurz team. They are said to have reported well for advertisements and published manipulated surveys.
“What has been claimed is simply wrong,” said Wolfgang Fellner. Thomas Schmid, former Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance, can write what he wants. According to the media manager, he has almost no contact with him and no text or SMS correspondence with him. A “maximum of editorial independence” has always been practiced.
Regarding fake polls, he said they were “uncomfortable” for the Treasury Department. “We are by no means the only ones who have received it,” claimed Fellner. The media group has printed many, but not all. Surveys commissioned by “Austria” even for Research Affairs are “demonstrably paid for by us and not manipulated”. In order to come to this conclusion, one checked the raw data oneself.
The publishing group “Austria” brings an official liability suit against the republic, as it became known on Sunday. The house searches and cell phone surveillance on behalf of the WKStA were illegal, the media company appealed to the legal protection officer of the Supreme Court. Fellner stated on Monday that the house search itself was fair and constructive. All documents have been handed over. Fellner assumed that the house search should be illegal in the opinion of the media group “will have consequences”. The WKStA contradicted the fact that there were illegal incidents in the course of the investigation.
