Proceedings discontinued

Public prosecutor: No corruption in the Ohlsdorf case

Where birds once chirped, there is now a mega-hall.(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart)

The case even involved the Federal Audit Office, which had found deficiencies. However, after the clearing of a forest next to the Westautobahn highway in Ohlsdorf, there are no criminal consequences against public officials and unknown perpetrators. The "Krone" knows why. 

Salzburg public prosecutors and Viennese corruption investigators took six and a half months before reaching their decision: there was no corruption involved in the case concerning 19 hectares of cleared forest and the construction of the Ehrenfeld II industrial estate in Ohlsdorf.

Ricarda Eder from the Salzburg public prosecutor's office told "Krone": "I can confirm that the investigation against Ing. Mag. Lanz was dropped because the subjective facts could not be proven." This refers to the investigations against the district governor of Gmunden, Alois Lanz. With his signature in official correspondence, he himself cleared the way for the construction of the company building area next to the Westautobahn.

The investigation proceedings were discontinued. No abuse of authority can be established.

Staatsanwältin Ricarda Eder, Salzburg

The Salzburg public prosecutor's office came into play here because the prosecutors from Wels had declared themselves biased. The reason for this is simple: the public prosecutor's office in Wels is responsible for the BH Gmunden in the first instance, so they work together all the time. The case was therefore delegated to Salzburg, where the decision has now been made.

"The offense of abuse of authority requires knowledge"
Public prosecutor Eder says: "With regard to the misuse of authority, the offense of abuse of authority requires knowledge. The public official must therefore consider it certain (beyond doubt) that a behavior is objectively unlawful. A possibly erroneous legal opinion of the accused is contrary to the assumption of knowledge."