Trial against Strache: No witness confirms resolutions on life insurance

Construction noise continues to be a prominent feature during the embezzlement trial of former FPÖ leader and vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache. On Tuesday, the third day of proceedings at the Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters, the ongoing building work was once again impossible to ignore.

However, the noise from the construction site has not overshadowed the central question of the trial: Did the Vienna branch of the FPÖ indeed decide that the payout from a party-financed life insurance policy should go directly to Strache personally, even in the event he survived the policy's term?

During the trial, key resolutions concerning this insurance policy have remained unconfirmed. Several witnesses have stated they have no recollection of these decisions or claimed to have no knowledge of them. Notably, FPÖ lawyer Fichtenbauer invoked his right to remain silent and made use of his right to refuse to testify.

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Did the Vienna FPÖ indeed decide that the insurance sum of a party-financed life insurance policy should flow personally to Strache even in the event of him being alive?