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Finance Minister Gernot Blümel (ÖVP) successfully defended himself against the allegation of corruption in court on Friday. A Twitter user had accused the ÖVP leadership and Blümel by name of being “corrupt”. He was convicted of defamation.
27.08.2021 12.45
Online since yesterday, 12.45 p.m.
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The trigger for the message on Twitter was the week-long reports of leaked chat logs and the message that Blümel’s wife was said to have been walking in the stroller with the couple’s private laptop during a house search. The revelations made for unfriendly posts about Blümel on social media. He saw a limit exceeded in some of the statements and took legal action.
Tweet accused corruption and lust for power
The Twitter user Wolfgang P. had also referred to the house search in a post at the beginning of March and wrote, among other things: “The current turquoise tour is just corrupt and power-hungry. And even if the laptop-less Blümel complains to me, this party is forgetful or corrupt. ”On June 20, this scenario occurred: P. was sued by Blümel for defamation.
As court spokeswoman Christina Salzborn explained, today’s trial ended with a conviction for defamation and a partial fine of 120 daily rates (35 euros each), 30 or 1,050 euros thereof. The verdict is not yet final, the man has appealed.
Debate with SJ too
Already in April there was a dispute with the Socialist Youth (SJ). She had published a photo of the finance minister and commented on it with “smart outside, corrupt inside”. The dispute ended in a settlement. They agreed on a donation of 2,000 euros to the Vienna Aid Organization.
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