Ibiza Column: Scheuba Fails with Appeal

The Higher Regional Court of Vienna (OLG) has essentially upheld the conviction following a column by satirist Florian Scheuba in the daily newspaper "Der Standard", in which he accused Federal Criminal Police Office Director Andreas Holzer of inaction in the investigations into the "Ibiza video". Scheuba's legal representative Maria Windhager stated via "Bluesky" that this was a "serious setback for freedom of opinion and satire". She now hopes for a "successful renewal application at the Supreme Court".

OLG upheld conviction against satirist Scheuba

Scheuba was found guilty of defamation in the second legal proceedings initiated by Holzer. The court sentenced Scheuba to a fine of 7,000 euros, half of which is suspended.

The first court had initially considered it a "satirical column" and acquitted Scheuba in June 2022. However, Holzer, who had led the "Soko Tape", was successful with an appeal against this. The OLG Vienna accepted his appeal, completely overturned the contested judgment, and referred the matter back to the first court for a new trial and decision. In the second legal proceedings, a conviction was then issued.

The point of contention was that in September 2021, Scheuba claimed in a "Standard" column that Holzer had already been presented with various incriminating materials about HC Strache by the future video producers in March 2015, including photos of a cash-filled bag in Strache's trunk. Holzer had only made an "incomplete file note" about this, which Scheuba described as "mysterious inaction" and "consequential refusal to work".

Opinion and Artistic Freedom Exceeded with Satirical Text

The Higher Regional Court of Vienna once again ruled in favor of the plaintiff on Thursday. The satirical text exceeded the limits of opinion and artistic freedom, confirmed the OLG in the verdict, as reported online by the "Standard" on Thursday.

Holzer had created a memorandum and informed the head of the organized crime group at the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office about the report. Since the main witness then did not want to testify, the investigations against Strache were discontinued after approval by the Senior Public Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Justice. Therefore, for the OLG Senate, the accusation of misconduct was not supported by the facts.

Renewal Application to the Supreme Court

Windhager, media lawyer for Scheubas and the "Standard", which must pay Holzer 10,000 euros in compensation, intends to continue legally challenging this decision, as stated. A renewal application to the Supreme Court is planned to achieve a new trial.

(APA/Red)

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