Judgment today

Schwurbler lawyer: “Corona doesn’t exist!”

A state of emergency prevailed at the nursing home in St. Lorenzen im Mürztal. Soldiers arrived.

(Bild: ERWIN SCHERIAU / APA / picturedesk.com)

14 months, 29 trial days: after such a long time, the verdict against five people responsible for the Tannenhof nursing home will finally be reached today, Wednesday. The pleas are currently underway.

The trial surrounding the Tannenheut nursing home in St. Lorenzen im Mürztal, which has been severely plagued by coronavirus, will actually come to an end on Wednesday at Leoben Regional Court (Styria). According to the criminal complaint, the many infections and deaths - 18 residents died as a result of an infection, eleven of them in direct connection with the disease - could have been prevented with an appropriate hygiene concept. According to the public prosecutor's office, all prevention concepts were missing, there was no cooperation with the hygiene specialist sent by the Province of Styria and there was no relevant staff training.

Swashbuckling lawyer with political speech
During the trial, however, a defense lawyer caused a stir in the courtroom. Several motions for evidence that he presented were not exactly helpful to his client, as they degenerated into a personal political speech against the Austrian media, the government and individual politicians. His client also appeared to be in little agreement with the statements made by his legal representative. 

The lawyer's tenor: Corona does not exist. The pandemic never existed either. Politicians have lied to everyone. And PCR tests say nothing about an infection. So what did the residents die of, in his opinion? "It was due to the unlawful isolation of the residents by the authorities." The psychological consequences were the cause of their deaths.

"Ivermectin for prevention"
He also asked the experts whether the residents had been given ivermectin (a controversial drug used against parasites in animals) to prevent the disease. There was grumbling in the ranks and the judge did not allow the question. But he had even more in store: he asked for the doctor who had issued several patients with mask-release certificates and had already been convicted under criminal law as a witness.

He read dozens of pages of pleadings, and even the judge commented that his explanations were extremely long-winded. But even she had no choice but to listen attentively to his statements and take notes. 

This is not a witch hunt. The media play no role in whether someone is charged or not. Anyone who thinks that clearly misunderstands the role of the public prosecutor's office and the police.

Staatsanwältin Viktoria Steinecker

In the end, the time had come for public prosecutor Viktoria Steinecker to start her closing statement. She spoke of an emotional event for everyone involved. However, she wanted to make it clear: "This is not a witch hunt. The media play no role in whether someone is charged or not. Anyone who thinks that clearly misjudges the role of the public prosecutor's office and the police." According to her, it was strange that statements made to the police were suddenly very different from the statements made in court, and this even applied in part to the expert reports.

Defense lawyer identifies capital crime
"After 14 months of negotiations, you grow together, sometimes we may have been told something by the media," said the defense lawyer for the managing director and his son. He is convinced that the expert report was not prepared in a proper manner and repeatedly criticized the statements of the two experts, who repeatedly raised contradictions. The people in charge of the nursing home had been let down by the authorities. Nevertheless, he blamed the media for the indictment, which in his opinion scandalized the deployment of the army in the nursing home. The police also got their comeuppance: what had happened in the course of the investigation was akin to a capital crime. His clients should be acquitted.

There were many multi-morbid patients, the home was run in an exemplary, family-like manner.

Anwältin Karin Prutsch

Lawyer Karin Prutsch represented the nursing home management: "The nursing home was very popular until the Covid period. There were many multi-morbid patients and the home was run in an exemplary, family-like manner." Even in coronavirus times, the staff, of whom there were far too few, did everything for the residents. Her client's hands were tied and she could not be blamed for anything.