Because of NS trivialization

Kickl compared with Hitler: FPÖ files charges

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl

(Bild: AFP)

A video comparing FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl to Adolf Hitler has been circulating for months. Now it is a case for the public prosecutor's office: the Freedom Party has filed a criminal complaint for trivializing National Socialism.

Previously, various injunctions against the club showing the video were unsuccessful. The material refers to Kickl's claim to become "People's Chancellor" - a term that was already used for Adolf Hitler. In the short clip, the FPÖ leader gradually transforms himself into the National Socialist dictator. 

Creator: "Active educational work"
Behind the video is the "Plattform Demokratie Österreich", which is run by former Green and NEOS politician Robert Luschnik, among others. Luschnik currently works as a political consultant. After the first lawsuits, he spoke out against a party-political attribution and instead sees the dissemination as "active educational work". "Not even Herbert Kickl can sue away the historical facts," said Luschnik.

Not even Herbert Kickl can sue away the historical facts.

Video-Urheber Robert Luschnik

The FPÖ has not only sued for injunctive relief, but also sees this as a trivialization of Nazi ideology. The comparison with Hitler is "tasteless and lacks any basis", said General Secretary Christian Hafenecker. Several versions of the video have been circulating online since the end of May.

FPÖ was against tightening
The provisions of the Prohibition Act were tightened at the end of last year. Since then, any trivialization of the Holocaust has been punishable, previously it was only "gross" trivialization. The party now suing was the only one to vote against the amendment in the National Council.