News on the SPÖ affair

Investigation against district leader over allotment garden

The allotment purchase could now be the undoing of SPÖ district leader Ernst Nevrivy.(Bild: Reinhard Holl, Georg Hochmuth, Krone KREATIV)

The public prosecutor's office now has district leader Ernst Nevrivy (SPÖ) in its sights because of a dubious land deal in an allotment garden association in Vienna. Accusations are also being investigated against two other people.

The word allotment garden is likely to continue to cause unease and beads of sweat on the foreheads of the Vienna SPÖ. Six months ago, several questionable allotment garden deals in the Breitenlee area in the 22nd district came to light - we reported in detail.

Investigations against three people
Now the Vienna public prosecutor's office has launched investigations against three people. Among them is Ernst Nevrivy, the district leader of Donaustadt. However, numerous other Social Democratic politicians are also involved in the piquant case. Among them are National Councillor Petra Bayr, local councillor Astrid Rompolt and Julia Lessacher, the deputy district leader of Mariahilf. Specifically, there are allegations that the SPÖ politicians bought and profited from allotment garden plots at extremely favorable times and conditions. They all deny that they had any influence on the land allocation procedure.

No comment.

Büro von Bezirksvorsteher Ernst Nevrivy (SPÖ)

Internal investigation
The Vienna SPÖ examined the matter internally last fall and acquitted itself. According to regional party secretary Barbara Novak, no legal violations were found. The public prosecutor's office is likely to take a different view. In three other cases, a preliminary report was also forwarded to the senior public prosecutor's office. When asked, the office of district leader Nevrivy simply said: "No comment." MP Bayr told the "Krone" that she was not under investigation. She snapped up two allotment gardens in the coveted property.

While for many Viennese an allotment garden will remain an eternal dream. The official application lists for allotments are immensely long and the allocation process is almost impossible for laypeople to understand. "The purchase of the second plot resulted from the opportunity to acquire one on the water and to change. I haven't sold the first plot yet," says Bayr. Insight or a guilty conscience certainly look different. SPÖ politician Lessacher states that she is not under investigation and has not yet been questioned. It is therefore still unclear who the other people are.

City hall opposition fumes
For the ÖVP, the affair has now reached a new dimension. The People's Party has asked the City Court of Audit to investigate the matter. The result is still pending. Strong criticism has also come from the FPÖ and the Greens. The presumption of innocence applies to the persons named.