"Will not give up"

Edtstadler wants more protection for suspects

(Bild: krone.tv)

In a krone.tv interview with Gehard Koller, Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) speaks out in favor of a ban on suspicious reporting in Austria. "Under the keyword 'citation ban'. I will also carry this forward into the next government, provided we will hopefully be part of it."

It is unacceptable that someone is reported and everything is immediately published in the newspaper, "even though the criminal proceedings are explicitly about a non-public part of the investigation." The minister had reached her limits here, as she explained: "The coalition partner rejected this. However, I think that recent incidents in particular show that something like this would be necessary and that reporting should not be suppressed, but that it should simply be channelled in such a way that the rights of the accused, personal rights and data protection are protected."

"Weighing up fundamental rights"
"We must not forget that behind every criminal case there is a person who is affected, many victims and possibly - especially with regard to the analysis of cell phone data - many people who are also affected but have nothing to do with it because their chats are suddenly in the public domain," Edtstadler continued. This is not something that means any restrictions for journalists. "It's simply a matter of weighing up fundamental rights and, as I said, we haven't managed to do that yet. But I certainly won't give up on the issue."

Minister Karoline Edtstadler in the krone.tv talk

(Bild: krone.tv)

Edtstadler sees the greatest success in the Freedom of Information Act. Although everyone agreed with this, the specific form it took proved difficult. Edtstadler managed to get everyone on board in almost four years of negotiations, she says.

"So if the climate protection minister had focused more on listening to people's worries, needs and fears, then things might have looked different, including with regard to renaturation."

You can see other topics, such as the dispute between the turquoise-green federal government and what Edtstadler thinks of the Kickl-led FPÖ, in the video above!