In the 17-page report commissioned by party attorney Werner Suppan, the Viennese criminal law professor Peter Lewisch writes that the concrete suspicion against Kurz alleged by the WKStA is “in no way understandable”. He accuses the investigators of “speculation and guesswork”.
The Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) is investigating the suspicion that the former Secretary of the Finance Ministry, Thomas Schmid, commissioned pollsters Sophie Karmasin and Sabine Beinschab to conduct manipulated surveys, which are said to have appeared in “Austria” media – paid for by Ministry of Finance by means of “bogus bills”. The investigators suspect Kurz to be the beneficiary and mastermind behind the system, whose takeover should be supported by the VP and, subsequently, the Chancellery.
“Speculation and Conjecture”
Lewisch emphasizes in his report that the “payment of BMF-external orders from ministry funds” can be judged as infidelity under criminal law. This should show the investigation. However, he does not see any concrete evidence of involvement of the VP chief. Lewisch accuses the investigators of “story telling” as well as “speculation and conjecture”: “The WKStA’s order is not able to name a single result of evidence that the person of Sebastian Kurz even somehow substantiated in connection with possible inaccuracies in the financing and accounting of achievements in the schoe of the BMF brings. “
Lewisch considers further allegations of the investigators to be legally inadmissible at all – such as the allegation of bribery and corruption in connection with advertisements. The VP reviewer thinks that “VP-friendly reporting” from newspapers that expect generous advertising orders cannot be regarded as a “corruption advantage” in the sense of bribery. Otherwise, that would also have to apply to a theater director who, in expectation of subsidies, selects politically pleasing plays, says Lewisch: “In truth, we are dealing with socially adequate behaviors that are outside the scope of corruption.”
“Calming conversation among colleagues”
Lewisch also sees the conversation between Kurz and Karmasin in their time together as ministers in 2016 as completely different from the investigators. The public prosecutor sees it as evidence that the former chancellor was directly involved in the affair. Lewisch believes – in line with the VP’s line of defense – that it could also have simply been a calamitous discussion among ministerial colleagues. Because at that time Karmasin was in a conflict with the then VP chief Reinhold Mitterlehner and it was “incomprehensible” why the WKStA had not taken this into account when taking evidence.
Lewisch is a professor at the Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology at the University of Vienna and a lawyer. In the latter position he works as Senior Counsel for the law firm “Cerha Hempel”. Their partner Edith Hlawati now heads the state holding BAG – as the successor to Thomas Schmid, who had to leave because of his chat affair, which also triggered the investigation against Kurz.
Source From: Nachrichten
