Widow of the late Pilnacek facing potential legal action by Pilz due to pending grievances
Don't Mess with the Truth: Peter Pilz Takes Matters into His Own Hands
It seems like the blond-haired, former Austrian MP, Peter Pilz, has a bone to pick with the higher-ups following his guilty verdict in a high-profile media trial. After being hit with a hefty €8,000 fine for his reporting on the Pilnacek case, Pilz ain't backing down - on the contrary, he's ramping things up.
Wednesday, the Regional Criminal Court slammed the brakes on Pilz's online publication zackzack.at for slander in a case that sees officials of the Lower Austria State Criminal Office accused of some ugly stuff. But Pilz ain't seeing himself as the guilty one - no, sir. He's feeling censored, man.
"Instead of focusing on the real crooks, they're gunning for me," Pilz spouts, sounding a familiar battle cry. This isn't the first time he's been through the wringer - his history with lawsuits is longer than a never-ending Austrian Alpine trail.
The day before, Pilz had another run-in with Caroline List, the widow of the late section chief Christian Pilnacek. List had sued over the invasion of her personal space by zackzack.at, and Pilz doesn't seem to care a bit that the court agreed with her.
Now, it's Pilz's turn to fight back. He's got a list of names he'll be taking on, including Caroline List, Federal Police Director Michael Takacs, and a representative of the Krems Public Prosecutor's Office.
"Bias" in Krems?
The Krems Public Prosecutor's Office has been leading the investigation into the death of Pilnacek, which was put on ice on March 1, 2024, and, following a directive from the higher-ups, is now being reassessed.
Pilz claims that the Krems office has been biased from the get-go, and he's got the evidence to back it up. He's planned a criminal complaint against the public prosecutor's office for misconduct, as the investigation against two officials of the Lower Austria State Criminal Office was recently dropped.
The allegation? Those officers had abused their powers by, among other things, grabbing Pilnacek's phone after he was found dead with a girlfriend, only to pass it on to List.
Phone toast with a Bunsen burner
List eventually got rid of the phone, torching it with a Bunsen burner - and potentially burning up a valuable piece of evidence that could've shed some light on Pilnacek's demise. Now, Pilz has his eyes set on filing, you guessed it, another criminal complaint for evidence tampering.
Back in January, it came to light that the WKStA had asked List to bring the late Pilnacek's phone during their investigation, but she couldn't comply, citing that she had disposed of it.
Laptop, missing in action?
Pilz is also mulling over filing a criminal complaint against Michael Takacs, Federal Police Director. He's got Takacs in his sites for offenses such as aiding and abetting evidence suppression or misconduct, due to accusations that Takacs instructed Anna P., who lived with Pilnacek's girlfriend in Rossatz, to lose Pilnacek's laptop.
Takacs denies these claims, but there are witnesses who claim to have heard Anna P. recount the conversation. The laptop didn't disappear, but it wound up in the hands of a Kronen Zeitung journalist and Pilz. Both of them are under investigation for handling stolen goods.
As if things weren't complicated enough, Pilz is dealing with another court case: Takacs and the head of the Lower Austrian Criminal Investigation Department are suing Pilz for defamation in his book, demanding a recall. The next court date for Pilz is on June 2nd.
This ain't the news you want to hear when you're looking for a quiet night in, but it's shaping up to be one wild ride for Peter Pilz and the powers that be in Austria. Stay tuned, folks - this is only the beginning.
- Peter Pilz, the former Austrian MP, is planning to file a criminal complaint against the Krems Public Prosecutor's Office, accusing them of misconduct and bias in their investigation of the death of Christian Pilnacek.
- Peter Pilz has also contemplated filing another criminal complaint against Michael Takacs, the Federal Police Director, for offenses including aiding and abetting evidence suppression or misconduct, due to allegations that Takacs instructed someone to lose a laptop that belonged to Peter Pilz.
