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

Have fun!

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

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[2] The OeVP/FPOe against women
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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"....

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[3] Holiday in Austria?
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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."

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[4] Lawsuit against artist
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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

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

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[6] ORF under control!?!
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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.

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

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[8] Censorship?
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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.

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[9] Happy Christmas with Joerg
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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.

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[10] Check Point Austria
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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.

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[11] Teachers' Strike
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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.

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[12] Haider's Friend
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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]".

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[13] Old Insults
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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."

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[14] The Informer Affair - An Introduction
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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.

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

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[16] Suspension lifted (2)
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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...

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[17] FPOe Vienna
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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.

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[18] Model recycling
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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.

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[19] Blue attacks
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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.

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[20] Data abuse, the easy way
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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.

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

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

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[23] Relief manoeuvres of FPOe
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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.

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[24] Another "ultimate strike-back"
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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.

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EPILOGUE
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See you again next month,

NO PEACE WITH AUSTRIA!!!