"Flag affair"

Immunity of FPÖ politician to be lifted

Michael Gruber is being targeted by the judiciary. For him, the action with the rainbow flag is a free expression of opinion and the judiciary wants to investigate him for incitement to hatred.

(Bild: SEPA/SEPA.Media)

Linz public prosecutors need the green light from the Upper Austrian state parliament to be able to investigate a blue politician. Michael Gruber, member of parliament and FPÖ state party secretary, had himself filmed disposing of a rainbow flag in a dustbin. He is now facing two years in prison for this.  

Officially, the investigation against the politician from Upper Austria has been discontinued, explains the Linz public prosecutor Ulrike Breiteneder: "We are currently not allowed to investigate the case because the person enjoys immunity as a member of the state parliament. For this reason, the Linz public prosecutor's office has submitted an extradition request to the Upper Austrian state parliament," says the representative of the authorities.

As reported by us, Gruber is accused of throwing a rainbow flag into a dustbin for an election campaign video entitled "Cleaning up for Austria". He is standing in a bus stop where the letters LGBTQ are scrawled on the wall and crossed out. He also rails against the early sexualization of children and literally says: "We want a man and a woman and then we'll have children. And then our society will have a future."

We are currently not allowed to investigate the case because the person enjoys immunity as a member of the provincial parliament. For this reason, the Linz public prosecutor's office has submitted an extradition request to the Upper Austrian state parliament.

Staatsanwältin Ulrike Breiteneder

Bild: © Harald Dostal

Gruber was charged with incitement to hatred (§ 283 StGB). Paragraph 1 states: "Anyone who publicly incites violence against a church or religious community or another group of persons defined according to the existing or missing criteria of race, skin color, language, religion or ideology, nationality, descent or national or ethnic origin, gender, disability, age or sexual orientation or against a member of such a group expressly because of membership of this group or incites hatred against them (....) is punishable by a prison sentence of up to two years."

Michael Gruber (right) sits in the Upper Austrian state parliament for the FPÖ.

(Bild: Harald Dostal / picturedesk.com)

Gruber is considered to be counted out within the party
With this action, Gruber naturally caused a stir among his political opponents, but not only them. Within the Freedom Party, he has since been considered to be under fire because the Upper Austrian party leader Manfred Haimbuchner does not want to attract attention with such an action, which was not agreed upon. In contrast to their colleagues in Vienna, the Freedom Party under Haimbuchner has been trying for years to appear serious and focused on the matter in hand, and they have also received praise for this from the Upper Austrian People's Party, which has been in an unexcited coalition with the Blue Party in Upper Austria for nine years. 

What the state parliament has to do now
The letter from the Linz public prosecutor's office, dated September 20, 2024, was received by the Upper Austrian state parliament directorate this week. The extradition request will now be forwarded to the relevant committee, which must make a decision within eight weeks. Only then can the judiciary and police begin their investigations. It is already clear that Gruber's immunity will be lifted for the investigation.