The National Council has voted to lift the immunity of FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, as well as MPs Martin Graf, Harald Stefan, and Norbert Nemeth. All parties—ÖVP, SPÖ, Grüne, and NEOS—approved this decision, with the exception of the FPÖ itself.
Kickl faces an investigation by the WKStA over suspected false testimony regarding the “red-blue abuse of power” in April, linked to the FPÖ’s ads and its collaboration with the advertising agency Think Tank. Meanwhile, the Vienna public prosecutor’s office is probing MPs Graf, Stefan, and Nemeth for possible violations of the prohibition law, following their involvement in a funeral where a song was performed that was also part of the SS anthem during National Socialism.
The FPÖ has strongly criticized the immunity waiver. MP Christian Ragger argued that Kickl’s statement in the inquiry committee was made in his capacity as party leader, thus protecting him under parliamentary immunity. Ragger denounced the immunity revocation as “persecution justice” by the ÖVP and Greens. Another FPÖ MP, Wendelin Mölzer, also condemned the move, noting that the MPs had sung “If everyone became unfaithful” in a version dating back to 1814.
