Telecom Process: "Financing Political Parties is a Common Practice"

On the second day of the Telekom / Valora bribery trial against former lobbyists Peter Hochegger and Walter Meischberger, as well as three former Telekom Austria executives, the problem today was the relationship between politics and business. The alleged perpetrators interviewed by Judge Marion Hohenecker have tried to describe this type of "maintenance of contact" as self-evident.

"We needed the policy, it was inevitable," said Rudolf Fischer, the defendant's main network, the former Telekom fixed network. He also said: "When we talk about the financing of political parties, this was and still is a common practice in Austria." Fischer explained to have had one of the first contacts on the subject: "Mr. Lopatka (Reinhold Lopatka, head of the ÖVP, n.) Came to see me and explained to me how the world works, "he said without giving more details.

Payments to the ÖVP in the center

His conclusion: As a society, you only have two options: "Either play with it and try to get the best out of society, or you say no one cares more about you."

The investigations focused mainly on Telekom's payments to ÖVP, although the SPÖ and FPÖ / BZÖ also benefited from the "black window". According to the indictment, Fischer should have promised 100,000 euros to the federal party of the ÖVP. For the Austrian Workers 'Union (ÖAAB), the ÖVP employees' union was promised during a conversation with the ÖAAB President, Fritz Neugebauer, for 15,000 euros. The € 96,000 that Valora paid to the White House Agency to fund the 2008 ÖVP youth election campaign was reimbursed to Telekom by the ÖVP.

Regulator replaced

During the minutes of the interrogation of the defendant, it became clear in the hearing room that the former leader and vice-chancellor of the ÖVP, Wilhelm Molterer, and l & # 39; Current spokesperson of the ÖVP, Reinhold Lopatka, had been identified at the start. The investigation was interrupted.

While Hochegger's lobbying was working, Fischer wanted to show an important staffing decision. Telekom Austria had exchanged in 2002 with Heinrich Otruba, its main university professor, responsible for telecommunications regulation, about lobbying the Ministry of Transport. The new regulator has been favorable to Telekom, according to Fischer.

It is striking to note that in the proceedings, all the defendants – with the exception of the former lobbyist Walter Meischberger – repent and talk about mistakes of which they were then not aware. . Four of the five defendants filed partial confessions, only the lawyer Meischberges pleaded for the innocent of his client.