2023-06-26 14:10:29
Last week, the confiscation of an investigative journalist’s mobile phones and computers by the Klagenfurt Prosecutor’s Office had a great impact and the prosecutor’s office took a step back. The Austrian Minister of Justice had to take over the case. Yeni Vatan Newspaper gave place to two extensive news on this subject. Investigative journalist Franz Miklautz asked for transparency in his guest commentary in der Standar, emphasizing the need for legal bases that would enable journalists, as well as every citizen, to learn about all tax-financed government expenditures with the click of a button.
Investigative journalist Franz Miklautz, who expressed his experiences in Der Standard Newspaper with a reader comment, wrote the following with the headline “Even my daughter’s laptop computer was examined”.
Franz Miklautz, Der Standard, Letter to the Reader
„Even my daughter’s laptop was inspected“
The city council of Klagenfurt tried to decriminalize me as a journalist – a complete disgrace with a mix of moral decay, a leadership vacuum in the municipality, and disregard for editorial secrecy.
My voice is hoarse. It still is. Still, it’s been three days since I heard the news: the criminal case against me was dropped. Cries of joy still choke my vocal cords today. The previous days were also not without problems: last Monday, my laptop and mobile phone were taken from me by the arbitrary decision of the Klagenfurt prosecutor’s office.
Last Monday, my laptop and mobile phone were taken away from me for alleged interference in data transfer: Klagenfurt Municipality officials had leaked me the salary accounting files and I participated in this abuse of power claim. I need to write. The police officers who took the devices from me on behalf of the Klagenfurt prosecutor’s office acted humanely. Four of them came to my house. One of them follows you wherever you go. You feel like a member of the major league mafia. And that’s only because, among other things, the officer in charge of the Mayor’s office in Klagenfurt Report on Peter Jost’s rich work I hadn’t. I asked how an officer earns 84,000 Euros in four months and I put the documents. The police even examined my daughter’s school computer!
The indictment filed against me by the Municipality of Klagenfurt is full of fiction, exaggeration, illusions and allusions. One of the most treacherous is this: One of the officers who allegedly gave me the data is said to have private money concerns in the paper. It is therefore said to transfer data to an ‘online platform’ (me) in exchange for payment. This constitutes the accusation of bribery. Subliminally, the intent to make a profit also spreads with this prosecutor. How wrong this is, it’s my own „online platform“ (mediapartizan.at) It shows that I have been running it for three years and therefore do not pursue a business model, but publicly report the intrigues at the Klagenfurt town hall for idealistic reasons. Despite this, the magistrate of Klagenfurt decided to use his sword: A journalist was going to be finished off. So my…
The prosecutor’s office in Klagenfurt also shared in this ugliness. If a wave of anger had not erupted in Austria; If colleagues in the media had not realized that this was an attack on freedom of the press and therefore on themselves, and if the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor General’s Office in Graz had not intervened in an explanatory way, the matter might have turned out differently. Because the mix of moral decay, a leadership vacuum in the municipality of Klagenfurt, and a prosecutor’s office that doesn’t value editorial confidentiality can quickly turn dangerous.
Anyone who does not carry water to the mill of justice will not think about anything when their mobile phones are confiscated. But when the spotlight is on you, doubts arise. Doubts about the overarching powers of the authorities. As a result, in this incident, the devices of a journalist who made completely accurate news in terms of media law were taken away. And without a court order. They wanted to use the ram to reach my informants.
Bug fixed
The good thing is that the bug was fixed immediately.
This means that the separation of powers and control authorities in Austria work well. But only after. But do we have to let it get this far? To learn from this case: Shouldn’t a control stage be created beforehand? Of course: public prosecutors have to deal with tens of thousands of cases each year. Keeping the quality high is difficult. However, we are not talking about a germ-free cheese that should be collected here. We’re talking about a life that can be destroyed. Like mine… The Austrian State must face this responsibility. This is why it should be possible for prosecution offices to be audited as independently as possible before such steps are taken.
When Christian Scheider (Team Kärnten) took office as the new mayor of Klagenfurt in 2021, he still carried the banner of transparency. Today, more and more, as a researcher, I work in the Mayor’s office, about which I am reporting, protecting public money and rights. He seems to be becoming a mayor at the mercy of Jost. And this is exactly what follows a journalist who advocates transparency being accused of baseless accusations. The issue revealed not only Jost’s comfortable overtime, but also that Scheider’s office manager cost the city of Klagenfurt almost 84,000 euros in salary and overtime in just four months.
This is why politicians preach transparency very little.
In the end, they will always choose not to be transparent.
What is ultimately needed is a legal basis that empowers journalists and every citizen to learn about all government spending financed with taxpayer money at the push of a button.
The Freedom of Information Act for public money must finally be implemented in Austria. And with no gaps. If official secrecy continues, albeit at a rudimentary level, the Freedom of Information Act will have a Trojan horse inside. (Franz Miklautz, 25.6.2023)
Franz Miklautz lives and works as an investigative journalist in Klagenfurt. He writes for the magazines „Kärntner Monat“, „Profile“ and „Falter“, among others, as well as on his platform mediapartizan.at.
PETER JOST KİM
#Investigative #journalist #Franz #Miklautz #wrote #disgrace #happened #Austria