Austrian Socialists Ordered to Compensate Right-Wing Leader Kickl for Defamation
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Loading... - Antonio Cruz
- 05 Feb 2025
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Herbert Kickl, the leader of Austria's right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ), has successfully won a defamation case against the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ). The Vienna Commercial Court has ordered the SPÖ to pay Kickl €1,500 in damages and €6,900 in procedural costs following accusations made in a party newsletter.
The SPÖ had claimed that Kickl maintained "close contacts" with a prominent neo-Nazi figure. Additionally, it was alleged that during his tenure as interior minister, Kickl had ordered a raid at the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BVT) to seize a list from the right-wing extremism department, which was purported to demonstrate his connections to the neo-Nazi.
In its ruling on January 29, the court emphasized that the statements made by the SPÖ were likely to harm Kickl's reputation, particularly given his position as a former minister and current federal party chairman of the FPÖ. The court described the SPÖ's claims as "an untrue defamatory insult" to Kickl's reputation.
In response to the court's decision, the SPÖ issued a public retraction on January 30, which was also disseminated via social media platforms. This case highlights the ongoing tensions between Austria's political parties and the legal ramifications of public statements made in the highly charged political landscape.
