Cause Pilnacek: Trial Between Top Police Officer and Zack Media Postponed

After almost six hours of proceedings, during which both Pilz and Takacs, as well as the head of the Lower Austria State Criminal Office, Stefan Pfandler, were questioned as witnesses, the presiding judge postponed the trial to August 6th (9:30 am). This was due to the request of both parties for further - extensive - witness summons.

Trial in the Pilnacek Case: Zack Media Wants to Summon Kurz and Sobotka, Among Others

At the next hearing, at the request of Takacs' lawyer Peter Zöchbauer, the deceased's partner and her then-roommate are to be summoned. They are to demonstrate that they were not subjected to pressure, contrary to Pilz's claims, to hand over Pilnacek's phone, wallet, and keys, or that the items "were not secured or taken under pressure," "but rather at the request of the two aforementioned ladies," according to Zöchbauer. On Pilz's side, the medical examiner who demanded an autopsy of Pilnacek's body on the day of his death and allegedly encountered resistance from investigating officers is to be questioned. Takacs' lawyer Zöchbauer also wants to summon a police officer who was allegedly involved in the recovery of Pilnacek's body from a side arm of the Danube near Rossatz on the day of his death.

Further hearings are likely to follow, as numerous other witnesses are to be heard at the request of both sides. Zack Media's lawyer wants to ask former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz why he publicly spoke of a suicide just a few hours after Pilnacek's death. Former National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka is also to be summoned - for example, to question whether he received the autopsy report early. In the application signed by Takacs, which is available to the APA, it is complained that Pilz and Zack Media GmbH are accusing Takacs of criminal behavior. He therefore demands confiscation (§33 Media Act) and publication of the judgment (§34) and is suing for compensation under §6 Media Act (for defamation, insult, ridicule, and slander).

Takacs states that Pilz's book advocates the thesis that Pilnacek "was murdered in October 2023, which is being covered up by the authorities." "As part of these unfair official proceedings, the respondent identifies me, among others," says Takacs. He is also offended by Pilz's writing that "a turquoise police chain had closed around him early on" because he "had informed the media about the death of Christian Pilnacek and, on the other hand, 'warned' the investigating officers."

"The Death of the Department Head": Takacs Has Not Read the Book on the Pilnacek Case

Also, Pilz would suggest "that the allegedly unlawful seizure of the mobile phone" of Pilnacek "was less initiated by the Lower Austrian State Police Director Franz Popp, but by one of the three decision-makers above him" - including Takacs. Pilz also alleges that investigators from the State Criminal Office were turned into "a data-cleaning crew for the ÖVP." Takacs is equally critical of claims that he was responsible for "the mobile phone of the deceased being withdrawn from the investigators' access" and that he advised the former roommate of Pilnacek's partner not to hand over Pilnacek's laptop, but to "make it disappear." Takacs caused a stir in the audience with his statement that he hadn't read the book at all - only excerpts. He also rejected all allegations made by Pilz while on the witness stand. He was not directly involved in the investigations, and they were conducted correctly.

LKA-NÖ Chief Pfandler: Pilnacek's Phone Not Evidence

Pilz and his lawyer also focused on the question of Pilnacek's private phone during the trial - and the question of why it was not retained as evidence and instead handed over to his wife (who then destroyed it with a blowtorch).

The head of the Lower Austrian State Criminal Office, Stefan Pfandler, who is also taking action against Zack Media, stated on the witness stand that the phone "was never considered as evidence." It was handed over to Pilnacek's wife's lawyer at 5 PM on the day of his death. It was irrelevant for clarifying the cause and circumstances of death. Pilnacek had left the phone in his partner's apartment in Rossatz when he last left it hours before his death. Therefore, it was of no significance because the phone was not with Pilnacek in his final hours, Pfandler explained. What Mr. Pilnacek "wrote between 11 PM and midnight does not interest us," he said.

Pfandler also emphasized that - contrary to Pilz's claims - the forensic investigation around the location where Pilnacek's body was found was not inadequate. He contradicted Pilz's claim that a Via Donau truck had run over Pilnacek's footprints. These were not truck tracks at all; instead, Pilnacek had left his footprints "down at the waterline." "This is part of the walking trail at the entry point, a completely different location," said Pfandler, presenting corresponding photos.

(APA/Red)

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