VIENNA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th November, 2019) A higher regional court in Vienna ruled Tuesday to ban the suspected maker of the "Ibiza-gate" video from spreading the clip that brought down Austria's governing coalition.
The lawsuit against the unnamed Viennese lawyer was filed by Johann Gudenus, deputy leader of the Freedom Party, who was caught on tape in the sting operation together with his boss, Heinz-Christian Strache.
"The Higher Regional Court of Vienna has upheld the preliminary injunction banning a lawyer, at the request of Mag. Johann Gudenus, from distributing the (entire) 'Ibiza video'," the court statement read.
It ruled that the video was made at an Ibiza mansion without the permission of people involved. It said that the filming broke European information rules because the method of data gathering was "particularly dishonest and in many aspects illegal."
The judgment is not final and can be challenged at a higher court.
The video showed Vice Chancellor Strache apparently promise lucrative contracts to a woman posing as a niece of a Russian oligarch, in return for donations. Her identity remains unknown but she is believed to be a Bosnian student.
The leak forced Strache to resign and broke up his coalition with conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who was ousted in a vote of no confidence last May. Kurz is expected to make a return after his People's Party won a snap election in September.
