Pilnacek's Then-Girlfriend Questioned at Trial in Vienna

The trial initiated by Federal Police Director Michael Takacs and other top police officers against Zack Media GmbH with publisher Peter Pilz continued on Tuesday at the Vienna Regional Court. The officers accuse Pilz of defamation due to his criticism of the police in Pilz's book about the death of former Justice Department head Christian Pilnacek ("The Death of the Department Head"). On Tuesday, Pilnacek's then-girlfriend shared her perspective.

"He Didn't Give Me a Glance"

For her, it is clear: The death of her former boyfriend was neither suicide nor an accident. "Those who do not cooperate in this country are removed!", was the sharp accusation from the witness. At the beginning of her three-hour questioning, she described the hours before Pilnacek's death. Pilnacek had spent every other day with her in Rossatz at that time. On the evening of October 19, he was not expected. As she wanted to go to bed early, she took half a sleeping pill. Therefore, her roommate - then an employee of National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP) - picked up Pilnacek after his driver's license had been revoked. He was "absent-minded." "He didn't give me a glance," and behaved "as if he were on drugs." On the terrace, he emptied half a bottle of Prosecco before leaving the house with the words "I'm leaving!"

The topic then was how she came to the accident site. She immediately recognized Pilnacek. "With a blue head," he was lying on his back in the water, "as if someone had placed him there."

"That Sounded Like a Threat"

Through her roommate, Sobotka had let her know that she should "not speak to any journalist, to anyone" about it. "That was suicide and that's how it stays," he said. "That sounded like a threat." After Pilnacek's death, her roommate quickly moved out. "I think she was under pressure at the time," the witness said, specifying upon inquiry that this pressure came from the then National Council President.

She assumes that Pilnacek was "removed." "If I spill the beans, many will end up in jail," he had told her. The former chief of staff at the Ministry of the Interior, Michael Kloibmüller, had made a similar statement at a meeting. She also indirectly implicated Takacs: Her roommate had said at several meetings that he advised her to make Pilnacek's laptop disappear.

After her partner's death, many people offered condolences, including from the ÖVP. Katharina Nehammer, then the chancellor's wife, for example, told her she was always there for her if she wanted to talk to someone. "But with all due respect, I don't know her personally," the witness said. However, she accepted the offer of a therapy session at Sobotka's wife's private home. In the meantime, her roommate had been in Sobotka's office, but she herself had not had a conversation with him.

She became quite emotional during the questioning by the opposing side. "Please look for the real perpetrators, but leave me alone," said Pilnacek's former girlfriend, and later refused to answer any more questions from attorney Linda Poppenwimmer, feeling she was being "questioned like a murderer." "You want to silence me, silence me!" she said, when asked if there were any criminal proceedings against her, before answering "Yes." Her roommate, who was also supposed to testify as a witness on Tuesday, was unable to attend due to illness.

"A lot of Speculation, but No Evidence"

In the afternoon, former "Presse" journalist Gernot Rohrhofer, who also wrote a book about Pilnacek's death, was called as a witness. Unlike Pilz, he concluded that there was "not a single indication" of a homicide, but "a lot of speculation, but no evidence" since the death of the section chief. A lengthy argument then broke out between Rohrhofer and Pilz or his lawyer Volkert Sackmann. "Do not interrupt me, we are not at the ÖVP here," the ex-Green accused the journalist of having ties to the People's Party.

Even before that, Pilnacek's former girlfriend was not on good terms with Rohrhofer due to his reporting. He, in turn, said: "It somehow sounded as if she expected something. But not from me, rather in connection with the report." She had - through the same lawyer who also represents Pilz - filed a report against the Lower Austrian chief inspector Hannes Fellner, who was questioned as a witness on Monday. He had, among other things, responded to the suspicion that there had been a break-in at her place by saying: "Is anything missing? No? Well, then it's fine," according to the witness.

A USB stick that Pilnacek was said to have always carried with him, Rohrhofer only knew "by hearsay." Pilnacek's widow, with whom he had been married for 20 years, was not aware of the USB stick, the journalist said.

No Trial on Wednesday

The trial will continue on Thursday. The community doctor and a forensic pathologist are then scheduled to testify. The questioning of Pilnacek's girlfriend's roommate, who was unable to attend today due to illness, is unlikely to be rescheduled yet. A verdict is expected no earlier than November.

(APA/Red)

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