A wet and happy standing together on a market square in Graz was the starting point for a lawsuit against a lawyer: When the police confronted him and some friends for disregarding the Corona distance rule, heated discussions broke out – complaints followed. The lawyer wanted to prevent this and put one of the officials, whom he knew only briefly, under pressure.
April 2020: The first wave of the corona pandemic has fully gripped Graz. Instead of in the inn, people meet to toast in public places – keeping the “baby elephant” distance.
So a 48-year-old magistrate and some friends came together at Lendplatz, and there must have been a lot of alcohol. The police received a tip that a group was not following the rules of distance. The control is said to have been “turbulent,” as public prosecutor Elisabeth Kirchmair said at the hearing on Monday at the Graz regional criminal court. The lawyer and his friends were unreasonable.
Among other things, the defendant is said to have shouted after a police officer: “She will soon be unemployed, that will have consequences.” He denies this and again emphasizes that the intervention of the executive was “very harsh”, the officers even threatened arrests.
“Was a peaceful conversation”
This did not happen, but the incident was supposed to lead to reports. Such a situation would have turned out relatively lightly for the accused. With his subsequent intervention, however, he got himself into a mess: Two days after the incident, he called one of the police officers involved on his private cell phone – he knows him from the shared tennis club – and advised him not to report anything.
“It was a peaceful, constructive conversation,” said the defendant. The official confirmed this in court – he still felt pressured. Especially since, in his opinion, the official act was carried out correctly. In the following days, the defendant followed up with a text message to the police officer.
As a lawyer, he in particular needs to know that the police are required to report, said judge Erik Nauta. The defendant made himself understandable: “I’m sorry that I acted so clumsily.” The non-final judgment: 12,600 euros fine for attempted abuse of office.