Other parties in favor

FPÖ votes against extradition request for the first time

At issue is the lifting of the immunity of FPÖ leader Mario Kunasek (right) and MP Stefan Hermann.

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian)

The public prosecutor's office in Klagenfurt is once again asking the Styrian parliament to waive the immunity of FPÖ leader Mario Kunasek and MP Stefan Hermann - this time the Freedom Party is against, the other parties are in favor.

At next Tuesday's parliamentary session, FPÖ party leader Mario Kunasek and his right-hand man, MP Stefan Hermann, are unlikely to be extradited for the first time with the votes of the Freedom Party. The public prosecutor's office in Klagenfurt recently submitted its third application to the provincial parliament to waive the immunity of Kunasek and, for the first time, Hermann. This was discussed in the sub-committee on Tuesday.

In contrast to the first two times, the FPÖ spoke out against the extradition: "According to a legally sound statement prepared by our lawyers, this new criminal accusation is clearly covered by extra-professional immunity. That is why we did not agree to the public prosecutor's request in the constitutional committee," explained the Freedom Party in a press release.

The trigger for the new request for the waiver of immunity is said to be a complaint by Alexis Pascuttini, who was thrown out of the Graz FPÖ and is now head of the Corruption-Free Municipal Council Club (KFG). It concerns allegations of "dangerous threats" and "coercion", as Pascuttini is said to have been put under pressure by Kunasek and Hermann in August and September 2022 so that the financial scandal would not be investigated further.

"It is unacceptable that there are constant attempts to intimidate leading FPÖ MPs by means of criminal accusations. This is precisely what immunity is supposed to protect elected representatives from. The outrageous accusations in the criminal complaint in question can only have the lowly purpose of massively damaging the image and intimidation, because legally they will definitely result in a dismissal. The fact that the complaint was only filed in March 2024, 20 months after the alleged coercion, underlines the implausibility of these allegations. It is also a mystery to us how the public prosecutor's office could even establish an initial suspicion given the absurdity of the complaint. This legal assessment will probably also require further investigation," said the FPÖ.

In contrast to the FPÖ, the other five state parliamentary parties - ÖVP, SPÖ, Greens, KPÖ and NEOS - voted in favor of the extradition of Kunasek and Hermann, which means that there will ultimately be a majority in favor of lifting the immunity at the upcoming state parliamentary session. According to reports, the other parties were unable to understand the FPÖ's reasoning. "We expressly call on FPÖ parliamentary group leader Kunasek and MP Hermann to agree to the waiver of their immunity at the next parliamentary session. Such a gesture would be a commitment to transparency and a willingness to cooperate. Anything else would inevitably raise the question: What do they have to hide? It is now up to the FPÖ to take responsibility through clear actions and thus justify the trust of the people of Styria," said SPÖ parliamentary group chairman Hannes Schwarz and ÖVP parliamentary group chairman Barbara Riener. "We take note of the voting behavior of the other parties, but warn that it will now become common practice in Styria to use criminal law to discredit and denigrate political opponents," said the Freedom Party.