After FPÖ Scandal Over SS Song at Funeral: FPÖ Lawsuit Against "Standard" Successful

In the view of the judge at the Vienna Regional Court, the offence of defamation was fulfilled with several articles about the three FPÖ politicians. The plaintiffs were awarded a total compensation of 20,250 euros.

"Der Standard" Appeals After Successful FPÖ Lawsuit

The FPÖ National Council members Harald Stefan and Martin Graf, as well as the Freedom Party's club director Norbert Nemeth, defended themselves against the media coverage, which their legal representative Christoph Völk described in the Grey House as "infamous and defamatory". For the "Standard" lawyer Michael Pilz, however, "a true fact was reported". He filed a full appeal against the verdict. Völk did not initially give any explanation. The verdict is therefore not legally binding.

The starting point was the funeral of a long-standing member of the "Olympia" fraternity, who was buried at the Hernalser cemetery on September 27, 2024. At his request, the song "Wenn alle untreu werden" was intoned. A video of this was leaked to "Der Standard", which subsequently reported that the FPÖ politicians Graf, Stefan and Nemeth present at the funeral did not leave, even though the so-called SS loyalty song was sung at the open grave.

The Freedom Party's justice spokesman Harald Stefan and club director Norbert Nemeth - Martin Graf was not present at the trial, he had excused himself due to illness - emphasized in their witness interviews in the Grey House that the song, originally written as a poem by Max Schenkendorf, is a more than 200-year-old folk and student song. It was written after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. At that time, it was used to "mourn" the defeat against Napoleon and the fall of the empire in 1805/1806. For them, the song has no reference to National Socialism and the SS, who claimed the song for themselves and "misused" it.

FPÖ Politicians Deny SS Song at Funeral

Stefan, who was a member of the fraternity "Olympia" until 2017, said he has known the song since his student days from songbooks and appreciates it because it stands for "fraternity and friendship". "For me, it was never a forbidden song," he said. He refuted the claim by "Standard" that a version of the song altered and used during the Nazi era was deliberately sung at the funeral: "I would never have sung an altered version to pay homage to anyone." He would not have attended the funeral at all if there was a risk of violating the Nazi Prohibition Act.

"For us, it's a song that celebrates fraternity," said the Freedom Party's club director Nemeth, who is a member of "Olympia" and "Vandalia". The song has "nothing to do with the Third Reich. That's a serious allegation that I reject. It stands for fraternity and lifelong friendship." The "version from 1819" was sung at the grave.

"Standard" had extensively reported on the events at the Hernalser cemetery, and the Vienna public prosecutor's office has been investigating the three FPÖ politicians since the end of December on suspicion of re-engaging in National Socialism under § 3g of the Prohibition Act. Apart from that, Stefan, who runs a notary's office in his civilian job, said he had suffered "massive problems, professionally and privately" as a result of the media publications.

First Court Reported "Unclear Suspicion Situation"

The First Court found that the incriminated articles published in the print edition, online and on the social media accounts of "Standard" mostly constituted defamation. Judge Daniel Potmesil stated that there had been an "unclear presentation of the suspicion situation". From the video played in the courtroom, which documents the singing of the song, it should have been clear that the third verse was omitted and "loyalty" was sung instead of "repentance" at one point - this version was used by the SS. However, whether "repentance" or "loyalty" was sung at the grave could not be determined due to the poor sound quality and the noise of pouring rain, as Potmesil explained. The song "When all become unfaithful" was sung in its entirety. Therefore, "Standard" failed to "strengthen" the suspicion that the version altered during the Nazi era was performed. Associating someone with National Socialist thought is "a classic dishonourable behaviour", the judge noted in the reasoning for the verdict. One does not have to put up with this "if it is not true".

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.