A-Infos (en) evil:austria 1200

[Rosa Antifa Wien <raw@raw.at>]

 ________________________________________________
      A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
            http://www.ainfos.ca/
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Welcome to a new edition of evil:austria!

Again, a large part of this edition is taken up with the so called 
"Informer Affair", there's a lot going on in Austria but not a lot of 
it is good :-(

Those who would like to know more about the group (Rosa Antifa Wien) 
who are behind evil:austria, can do so with our home page 
(http://www.raw.at). There you can find our 'basic principles' ("Who 
we are") text under the heading "other languages", in English....

Those who want to know more about the possibility of receiving this 
newsletter regularly, can do so in the "Epilog".

And now quickly (for the new ones) an explanation as to what this 
newsletter is about and why we bother to write it:

evil:austria is our monthly newsletter providing information about 
the situation in Austria (and regarding the consequences of FPOe/OeVP 
government). We decided to produce this newsletter since we realized 
that knowledge regarding the actual situation in Austria is not very 
widespread abroad. The government, after discussions about 
EU-'sanctions' against Austria were dropped, succeeded in removing 
the daily insanity from the attention of the international public. 
Meanwhile 'sanctions' have been lifted, which almost all political 
groups here celebrated as a victory, and the 'interest' taken in the 
development in Austria has decreased even more. The 'normalisation' 
of the right-wing/right-extreme government continues, and therefore 
information about the aggravation of the situation in Austria is even 
more important. It is therefore highly desired that you spread this 
newsletter as widely as possible, so that as many people as possible 
get to know about the situation in Austria. So please spread, spread, 
spread this. Of course you may also use this material (also in 
excerpts) for magazines and papers, but we would be glad if you sent 
us a short mail in this case.

Any criticism and comments please send to (if possible, please write 
in German and English):

raw@raw.at

Enjoy reading the newsletter!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< ;begin contents >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

****************************************************************
[1] Austrian Concepts of History
****************************************************************
[2] The OeVP/FPOe against women
****************************************************************
[3] Holiday in Austria?
****************************************************************
[4] Lawsuit against artist
****************************************************************
[5] Further NS activity reported to the police
****************************************************************
[6] ORF under control!?!
****************************************************************
[7] Unfortunately ....
****************************************************************
[8] Censorship?
****************************************************************
[9] Happy Christmas with Joerg
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[10] Check Point Austria
****************************************************************
[11] Teachers' Strike
****************************************************************
[12] Haider's Friend
****************************************************************
[13] Old Insults
****************************************************************
****************************************************************
[14] The Informer Affair - An Introduction
****************************************************************
[15] Suspension lifted (1)
****************************************************************
[16] Suspension lifted (2)
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[17] FPOe Vienna
****************************************************************
[18] Model Recycling
****************************************************************
[19] Blue Attacks
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[20] Data abuse, the easy way
****************************************************************
[21] Public prosecutors vs. Minister of Justice?
****************************************************************
[22] It's all peanuts...
****************************************************************
[23] Relief manoeuvres of FPOe
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[24] Another "ultimate strike-back"
****************************************************************

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< ;end contents >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

****************************************************************
[1] Austrian Concepts of History
****************************************************************

In 1993 the then chancellor, Franz Vranitzky, declared Austria's 
complicity in the crimes commited by the Nazis- better late than 
never. On November 9, 2000, the anniversary of the November pogrom, 
chancellor Schuessel said, in an interview with the Jerusalem Post, 
that "The sovereign Austrian state was the first victim of the 
Nazi-Regime." Anyone who thought such a statement could only come 
from Joerg Haider is mistaken: This statement from Wolfgang Schuessel 
reflects the opinion of a large percentage of Austrians! The Allies 
were/are therefore not seen as liberators, but as an occupying force. 
Nazi slogans are still heard today (see evil:austria 0600). SS 
veterans are venerated, the relatives of their victims are forbidden 
from remembering their loved ones (see evil:austria 1100), ....
Schuessel reacted to criticism of his statement by saying:" Denying 
that Austria was a victim of Nazi-Germany is an intellectual betrayal 
of the sacrifices which Austria had to make." - and one could not 
rewrite history - "at least not while I have something to say."
A year ago a highranking FPOe politician explained what the term Nazi 
meant to him:" New, attractive, determined, and full of ideas"- he 
was neither reported to the police nor condemned - that's what 
Austrian mentality is like!

****************************************************************
[2] The OeVP/FPOe against women
****************************************************************

The new social minister Mr. Haupt (FPOe)- and therefore also Mr. 
Wymyn's minister - didn't take long to let his extreme thoughts about 
male superiority influence his office: In an interview he mused about 
the possible limitation in the so called "termination period" (i.e. 
the first three months of pregnancy during which abortion will not be 
punished acording to Austrian law). Should get his way,  "Abortion 
will no longer be the only for the woman to decide"! That is not the 
first encroachment by the government on the woman's right to choose: 
In May this year,  Chancellor Schuessel (OeVP) wrote a letter saying 
the OeVP rejected the termination of pregnancies on principle, and 
"OeVP will strive for an according change of this law"....

****************************************************************
[3] Holiday in Austria?
****************************************************************

FPOe's participation in the present government also effects tourism 
in Austria. Internet sites of rightwing extremists in Germany 
advertise holidays in Austria: "Now is the time for holidays in 
Austria! You can recover from EU hysteria there."

****************************************************************
[4] Lawsuit against artist
****************************************************************

In Austria antifascists have probably more criminal cases brought 
against them for infringements of the "Abzeichengesetz" (the law 
against the wearing of Nazi regalia and symbols) than (Neo-)Nazis do. 
Wearing well known antifascist symbols (eg. a crossed-out swastika) 
has always been complained about and the police are dealing more 
severely with these complaints. Such complaints and lawsuits, 
however, are not arising from SS veteran meetings...
The police took action against an artist's performance in memory of 
the 1938 November pogrom. One of the artists, actor Hubsi Kramar who 
is actively involved in the protests against the government, received 
an official complaint for infringement of the "Abzeichengesetz"; he 
had dressed up as Adolf Hitler. After confiscating his uniform, the 
performance -  also involving the daughter of Bert Becht, Hanna Hiob 
- had to be stopped

****************************************************************
[5] Further NS activity reported to the police
****************************************************************

The IG Authors (an important writers' organization) has brought a 
case against Joerg Haider, justice minister Boehmdorfer, defence 
minister Scheibner, and the Chief of the Vienna FPOe, Kabas. The case 
is that the aforementioned FPOe politicians are suspected of having 
taken up facist actions [which is a criminal offence under Austrian 
law]. So for example, Boehmdorfer while still working as a lawyer and 
acting on behalf of Joerg Haider, wrote an article in which the SS 
were played down and which described the genocidal war of the Nazis 
as an "honourable war". Whether anything will come of this case is 
really uncertain, since Boehmdorfer is the one in a position to tell 
public prosecutors to drop the charges....

****************************************************************
[6] ORF under control!?!
****************************************************************

ORF (state-owned radio/TV station) has to cope with massive pressure 
from the government: Time and again contributions are subject to 
complaints or changes to contributions are being 'requested', 
particularly by Peter - Hojac- Westenthaler (FPOe parliamentary 
secretary) and Andreas Khol (OeVP parliamentary secretary). No day 
goes by without a phone call from Westenthaler, it is said ... The 
"correct" words are put into the editors' heads, thus changing the 
tenor of reports.

For example, the wording "EU sanctions against the government" got 
changed to "EU-sanctions against Austria", to correspond to the 
government's point of view. The "Informer Affair" was renamed "Data 
Abuse". By controlling ORF, the population is manipulated. 
Successfully.

****************************************************************
[7] Unfortunately ....
****************************************************************

...The government have not been granted total control over the ORF.
In the (quite small) Austrian federal state of Burgenland, there was 
a regional election due to a scandal concerning the running of the 
bank, which involved the social democrats who had until then governed 
Burgenland, thus the OeVP and the FPOe were guaranteed to win. Since 
the positions in the decision-making structures of Austrian 
state-owned television and radio (ORF) are given according to 
membership in the (governing) political parties, an FPOe/OeVP 
coalition in this federal state means a 2/3 majority for the 
government in ORF. Indeed a majority which will allow to effect 
changes to ORF which are favoured by the government. Sometimes things 
work out differently, and so both the FPOe and the OeVP have lost 
votes in this election. Therefore, the federal government must 
prepare themselves to go on with harassing phone calls to ORF.


****************************************************************
[8] Censorship?
****************************************************************

The British television station BBC2 orderd material on FPOe from ORF. 
Routine - but not with ORF. Film material showing Haider was "very 
delicate", ORF replied, therefore the management had decided that 
"our political department will examine the requested material to 
decide whether there is reason to apply editorial restrictions". 
After 2 months of examination ORF decided: scenes like the 
"Aschermittwochrede" (Ash Wednesday speech) -in which Haider called, 
among other things, Jacques Chirac a "Westentaschennapoleon" (Pocket 
Napoleon) in front of a roaring crowd - should not be put at the 
disposal of the BBC. Anyway, after the informer affair arose, ORF 
decided that the BBC will get no material at all. Only after 
complaints from London, the BBC got part of the material.

****************************************************************
[9] Happy Christmas with Joerg
****************************************************************

The christmas tree placed in the centre of St Peter's Square in Rome 
will come from Carinthia this year. The Vatican accepted the offer 
from Carinthian governor, and Joerg Haider will deliver the huge tree 
himself on the 16th december.
We ask for information about any and all planned protests.

****************************************************************
[10] Check Point Austria
****************************************************************

On December 5, there were road blocks across Austria in demonstration 
against the government. Or: they should have taken place, as most of 
the rallies were forbidden on the grounds that the right of freedom 
of assembly and the individual right to use the streets must be 
carefully balanced against each other. Thing is, only a few weeks 
before, in protest to the nuclear power plant at Temelin, the Czech 
border was blocked for days. These actions had the full support of 
the Government (including Haider and Co.). But the national fight 
against the Czech republic (for which school classes were exempt from 
school) apparently requires a different conception of demonstration 
rights....
The right to drive your car won and the police explained this brutally.
Not only opponents of the government were beaten, also several 
journalists were forceably prevented from going about their job: 
Plainclothed police officers destroyed cameras and threw journalists 
to the ground.

****************************************************************
[11] Teachers' Strike
****************************************************************

For the first time in nine years, the teachers are on strike; they 
are striking against the budget cuts in education. Faced with the 
prospect of a lot of unsupervised school children, the President of 
the Viennese school board suggested sending in the "educationally 
most well trained information officers" from the army! - The army 
(for organisational reasons) turned down the request.

****************************************************************
[12] Haider's Friend
****************************************************************

The successor to the transport minister Schmidt (who in the meantime 
is very busy explaining why he needs a minister's pension of 125.000 
[nearly 10.000 Euro] per month) is Monika Forstinger, until now a 
relatively unknown personality in Austrian politics. But she fulfils 
two important criteria: She has known Haider since childhood and 
comes from a staunch nationalist family. In the first speech she 
delivered, she said that during hard times, one must "stand 100 
percent behind the Gesinnungsgemeinschaft [loosely translated as 
"ideological community", a paraphrased Nazi-idea]".

****************************************************************
[13] Old Insults
****************************************************************

At least Karl Schnell, FPOe chairperson in Salzburg, could have 
thought up something new, but obviously his imagination doesn't go 
that far. In an allusion to the Hump-Dump-Lump affair (see 
evil:austria 0600 - Kabas had described the Austrian president Thomas 
Klestil as a "Lump", i.e. a rogue), he said that "Lump was too 
harmless an expression ... where I come from,'Lumpi' is a name for a 
dog."

****************************************************************
[14] The Informer Affair - An Introduction
****************************************************************

The only ones to find anything good in the cable railway accident in 
Kaprun, in which 15 people lost their lives, are the Freedom party: 
The issue 'Informer affair' was ignored by most of the media - 
coverage of the accident was dominant. Apart from that, the FPOe 
managed to portray themselves as the victims of a "socialist 
conspiracy". It has to be feared that the FPOe will take only little 
damage from this scandal - as with other scandals before.... 
Additionally, there is a lack of an understanding of basic democratic 
rights in Austria: The majority of the population view data 
protection as unimportant, and believe that those who are filled with 
indignation must have something to hide. The opinion poll ranking of 
the FPOe, in any case, did not drop much.

****************************************************************
[15] Suspension lifted (1)
****************************************************************

Herr Binder (member of AUF, FPOe police trade union) - police officer 
and Haider bodyguard - has been suspended as a consequence of the 
informer scandal. The suspension now has been lifted which FPOe 
promptly saw as a proof of Binder's innocence. It is more 
interesting, however, to see *who* lifted the suspension: a police 
jurist who would like to become security director in the federal 
state of Carinthia. To be accepted for this office, he will need the 
approvement of the prime minister of this federal state, and this 
happens to be Joerg Haider!

This police jurist, one day prior to lifting the suspension, visited 
the party convent of FPOe and cheered Haider. He also organized - 
private - security guards for this event, as he owns a private 
security company although this is not in accordance with him being a 
police jurist. He did not report this economic actitivity to his 
senior officials, and the Interior Ministry has told him before that 
he may not do this - he already ran a security company before which, 
amongst other activities, used to protect a brothel .....
This very same police jurist now claimed: "I have come to this 
decision only according to the laws." Oh sure....

****************************************************************
[16] Suspension lifted (2)
****************************************************************

Another suspension has been lifted: that of Salzburg FPOe member of 
parliament - and police officer - Helmut Naderer. Naderer has not 
been interrogated up to now because his immunity as a member of 
parliament was not as yet lifted. FPOe again sees the lift of 
suspension as a proof of their party colleagues' innocence...

****************************************************************
[17] FPOe Vienna
****************************************************************

The immunity of Vienna FPOe chairperson Hilmar Kabas and of Vienna 
FPOe general secretary Michael Kreissl (AUF police officer) has been 
lifted and their homes were raided. If Kabas gets charged, who will 
be the leading candidate for the local elections in Vienna for FPOe? 
In any case, the election campaign will be using xenophobe slogans.

****************************************************************
[18] Model recycling
****************************************************************

According to reports by daily paper "Salzburger Nachrichten", Vienna 
FPOe got rid of 14 huge bags of waste paper, at 30 kilogrammes each, 
only 3 days prior to a raid of their offices. In normal times FPOe 
Vienna only produces as much as one bag of waste paper per week.

****************************************************************
[19] Blue attacks
****************************************************************

The FPOe is leading massive attacks against officials involved in the 
inquiry in to the informer affair,  verbally attacking public 
prosecutors and police officers, also Home Scretary Strasser (OeVP). 
FPOe party official Peter Westenthaler even reported general director 
for public security Erik Buxbaum to the police for misconduct: 
suspension of police officers.

****************************************************************
[20] Data abuse, the easy way
****************************************************************

No members of the FPOe/OeVP government stepped down in reaction to 
the informer affair - not even people apparently involved -, and 
neither did government members see any reason to give declarations 
affirming the basic right to data protection. Instead, all Austrians 
will now receive a so-called "citizen card"! This card will be set up 
according to the social security card which will be issued from next 
year . The card is meant to replace identity cards and is supposed to 
be a universal card for dealings with all authorities. Apparently 
FPOe/OeVP see this as an appropriate answer to the informer affair.

****************************************************************
[21] Public prosecutors vs. Minister of Justice?
****************************************************************

Due to a report to the police, public prosecutors would be able to 
investigate against former Haider-lawyer and now 'independent' 
Minister of Justice, Herr Boehmdorfer. While working as a lawyer, 
Boehmdorfer made use of police data in a court case- the Minister of 
Justice claims to have obtained these data from Ewald Stadler (FPOe 
Lower Austria), while Stadler claims to have obtained the files from 
an anonymous person. However, in a court case Stadler gave evidence 
under oath that he obtained the files, "like many documents", from 
Haider's bureau....
Whether investigations against Boehmdorfer will indeed take place is 
something which Boehmdorfer is able to decide himself. All public 
prosecutors report to Boehmdorfer....

****************************************************************
[22] It's all peanuts...
****************************************************************

Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel apparently believes that obtaining data 
illegally, passing them on and making use of data taken from police 
computers is just peccadilloes. According to Schuessel, data abuse 
"can't be compared to a crime, which may for example endanger lives". 
He also does not view criminal proceedings to be an apt reason for a 
politician to step down from office.

****************************************************************
[23] Relief manoeuvres of FPOe
****************************************************************
The FPOe are trying their utmost to get out of the informer affair, 
albeit with pretty limited success. As a last resort, Vice Chancellor 
Ms Riess-Passer (FPOe) intervened personally, demanding the judical 
system (!)  drop investigations against Joerg Haider (FPOe) ! The 
reason for this fit of dictatorial behaviour is that Ms Riess-Passer 
is suffering from an incriminating letter found during a raid at the 
home of Haider's bodyguard Binder (see above), and which turned out 
to have been forged. Riess-Passer claims it was the only evidence 
against Haider. Public prosecutors take a very different point of 
view.
It is however quite a different question who wrote this letter and 
who will benefit from it. It is evident that FPOe will benefit from 
this forged letter, and it is also evident that FPOe would very much 
like to take on the role as a victim, and are prepared to manipulate 
it in order to achieve this: In 1998, e.g., Peter Rosenstingl (at 
that time member of FPOe) made it into national headlines for 
embezzlement, and FPOe was outraged, claiming their offices in 
parliament must be tapped. So, just in time, the FPOe was able to 
present themselves as a victim of sinister machinations. Staged quite 
well, but nevertheless investigations showed that the office was 
tapped by Haider's chief of security in order to prove the alleged 
threats.

****************************************************************
[24] Another "ultimate strike-back"
****************************************************************

The FPOe announced "ultimate strike-backs" regarding the informer 
affair (cf evil:austria 1100), and MP Schweitzer (FPOe)  gave an 
example of such a reprisal in a press communique: He said he 
discovered several police reports on demonstrations (against the 
government) during investigations in the internet. Therefore, he 
assumed, there were "left agents" in the police. Fact is that a 
person received these reports under the freedom of information act 
(since he was charged) and published the reports...
We assume that the "enormous necessity for investigation" seen by 
Schweitzer is proved unnecessary now.

****************************************************************
EPILOGUE
****************************************************************

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So see you again,

NO PEACE WITH AUSTRIA !!!

Rosa Antifa Wien (RAW)

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