National Socialist Re-engagement: Imprisonment for 60-Year-Old

At the Vienna Regional Court on Friday, former red-light figure Waltraud P. (60) was legally sentenced to 20 months of unconditional imprisonment for National Socialist re-engagement. Twelve previous convictions were a significant aggravating factor in the sentencing. The sentence was imposed as an additional sentence to four months unconditional imprisonment, which the Favoriten District Court had imposed in 2023 for fraud. In total, Waltraud P. must go to prison for three years.

A part of the sentence originally suspended on probation, amounting to twelve months, was also revoked, which the St. Pölten Regional Court had imposed in November 2020. At that time, Waltraud P. was sentenced to 18 months, six of which were unconditional, for National Socialist re-engagement, after remarks minimizing Adolf Hitler were made in a Facebook group comprising 7,800 people.

Criminal Period from 2015 to 2023

In the current case, it concerned incriminated posts that Waltraud P. had made in WhatsApp chat groups between 2015 and 2023. According to the indictment, by spreading edited images of Adolf Hitler and accompanying texts or comments, Hitler and National Socialism were glorified. On Hitler's birthday, for example, on April 20, 2023, Waltraud P. sent a kind of birthday card with the remark "Happy Birthday, my Führer."

"The sent messages contained historical and propagandistic images and videos of Adolf Hitler and Wehrmacht members, as well as typical National Socialist slogans, gestures, and symbols. Antisemitic messages, mocking and approving the mass extermination of Jews and other crimes of the Nazi regime, were also sent," the indictment stated. This did not happen by chance, the indictment emphasized: Waltraud P. belongs to "the right-wing extremist scene or neo-Nazi scene."

"Returned to the Values of Society"

"She confesses everything. Completely," said defense attorney Nikolaus Rast at the beginning of the trial. Waltraud P. no longer maintains her statements in the investigation proceedings, where she had explained that she found the messages "funny" and that it was "her kind of humor." "That's what she said back then," Rast admitted, "but it was wrong to deal with it that way." In the meantime, his client's attitude has changed: "Since 2023, there has been nothing in this direction. She has realized that this is the wrong path she took back then. She has returned to the values of society."

During the trial, Waltraud P. exercised her right to remain silent. After the trial, she told journalists that she would serve her sentence in the Schwarzau correctional facility for female inmates.

Change of Gender Entry

After the verdict of the District Court of Favoriten became final and a summons to commence the sentence was issued, the recipient, originally named Walter P., had the gender entry changed to female. The change was made after presenting a psychiatric report. The declared aim of the action was, according to their own statements, to be able to serve the sentence in a women's prison.

Shortly after the change, Waltraud P. received a letter from the Pension Insurance Institution (PVA), according to her own statements, in which she was offered an earlier retirement at 61 years instead of the previous 65 years as a man. When the "Kronen Zeitung" first reported on this and then other media followed, a debate about gender changes erupted. Several authorities are now examining possible criminal consequences in the case. From the perspective of the government and a legal expert, legal changes are not necessary, as the current regulations would exclude arbitrary changes of gender. The FPÖ demands a legal clarification.

As the Ministry of the Interior noted a few weeks ago in response to an APA inquiry, it is not possible in Austria to "change one's gender arbitrarily." Therefore, the ministry has commissioned the Magistrate of the City of Vienna to review the psychiatric report that led to the change of the gender entry. Based on statements by Waltraud P. to the "Krone," it "cannot be ruled out that it is a courtesy report and thus a criminal offense."

The Federal Criminal Police Office has initiated investigations in the case on suspicion of social benefits fraud. In addition, a former Green Party member of parliament has filed a criminal complaint on suspicion of fraud and forgery.

"In Six Months I'm Retiring"

Waltraud P. currently lives on AMS benefits. "In six months I'm retiring," announced the person born in April 1965 at the Gray House, when the presiding judge at the regional court asked for her personal details. She stated that she is married, has three children, and her wife is from Nigeria.

According to the current legal situation, a statement from a psychiatrist or psychologist is required for a change of gender entry. This professional must confirm that there is a "sense of belonging to the other gender and that this is likely to be largely irreversible" and that "a significant approximation to the external appearance of the other gender is expressed." According to the Administrative Court (VwGH), a gender reassignment surgery has not been a requirement since 2009.

(APA/Red)

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