Immunity of Kickl and Three FPÖ Deputies Lifted
All parties except the Freedom Party itself voted in favour of this on Wednesday afternoon. There was a debate about the chairmanship of National Council President Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ), who vehemently defended himself against the accusation of having withheld the extradition request against Graf, Stefan and Nemeth.
Kickl and Other FPÖ Deputies "Extradited"
The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) wants to investigate Kickl on suspicion of perjury in the U-committee on "red-blue power abuse" in April, among other things about advertisements of the Freedom Party and the advertising agency "Idea Forge". The investigation against the three other deputies is about a violation of the prohibition law. The reason is their participation in a funeral where a song also used by the National Socialist SS was sung.
FPÖ Accuses Government Parties of "Persecution Justice"
The FPÖ's refusal to agree to Kickl's extradition was justified by FPÖ deputy Christian Ragger by the fact that Kickl had made his statement in the U-committee as club chairman, not as interior minister. Therefore, he enjoys the protection of immunity. Ragger saw "persecution justice" by the government parties.
His party colleague Wendelin Mölzer also criticised the extradition of Graf, Stefan and Nemeth. They had sung the song "When all become unfaithful" in a version from 1814. He pointed out that there are parallel versions with different lyrics. He attested that the public prosecutor's office had not sufficiently informed itself about the song - otherwise, in his opinion, it would have come to the conclusion that there is no initial suspicion.
Kickl was questioned during his time as interior minister, so the protection of parliamentary immunity does not apply, said Christoph Zarits (ÖVP). Selma Yildirim (SPÖ) emphasised that immunity is not there for deputies to hide behind who are suspected of having committed a criminal act. The visit to the funeral of the former Vienna FPÖ district councillor and "Old Gentleman" of the German-national fraternity Olympia, Walter Sucher, is not part of the duties of a National Council deputy, argued Lukas Hammer (Greens) for the lifting of the immunity of Graf, Stefan and Nemeth.
Discussion About Chairmanship of National Council President Rosenkranz
There was also a debate about the type of chairmanship of Rosenkranz. The claim of ÖVP deputy Wolfgang Gerstl that the extradition requests on suspicion of re-engagement had "remained in the office of the National Council President in a strange way" was denied by Rosenkranz. He announced media law proceedings to refute this accusation. However, his statement that Gerstl could apologise to him after these proceedings was not an announcement of a court case against the ÖVP deputy, said the President of the National Council. This had been interpreted as such by ÖVP Secretary General Christian Stocker. Therefore, Stocker stated that Rosenkranz had "not only excessively claimed our trust, but also lost it."
(APA/Red)
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