The independent investigative journalist raided for his investigation into possible corruption in Carinthia’s Klagenfurt saw charges against him dropped following an outcry from media organisations.
Earlier this week, Austrian police raided the offices of independent investigative journalist Franz Miklautz after he published an incriminating payroll of a civil servant who earned €270,000 in 2022.
Peter Jost, a magistrate director in Klagenfurt and former far-right politician, had billed the city for 800 hours of overtime, increasing his income beyond that of even the state governor. Miklautz also alleged possible corruption as Jost allegedly tried to guarantee government contracts in exchange for a share of the contract volume.
Carinthian public prosecutors charged the journalist who broke the story with “contribution to violation of official secrecy and violation of the Data Protection Act” and confiscated both his laptop and phone in the search for the leak.
Media organisations were immediately outraged at such an attack on media freedom.
Florian Klenk, editor-in-chief of the Viennese weekly Falter, called the seizures “an unprecedented judicial scandal”.
When the Ministry of Justice and the Green Party’s Alma Zadic got wind of the ‘attack’ on media freedom, the chief prosecutor dropped the case and returned the journalist’s devices.
Austria is currently ranked 31st on the World Press Freedom Index, down from the 17th spot it earned the previous year, partly because of the extent to which politicians have influenced media coverage.
(Nikolaus J. Kurmayer | EURACTIV.de)
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