Karl-Heinz Grasser: Come on in prison for BUWOG affair is getting closer!

Karl-Heinz Grasser: Come on in prison for BUWOG affair is getting closer!

Innsbruck, Österreich - Karl-Heinz Grasser, the former finance minister in Austria, is faced with the upcoming start of prison. He was legally sentenced to four years in prison in the BUWOG affair. According to vienna.at , Grasser has to move into the Innsbruck judge by June 2, 2025 at the latest. However, an earlier custody start at the end of May 2025 cannot be excluded. Grasser’s lawyer, Dr. Manfred Ainedter indirectly confirmed the upcoming start of prison without expressly denying this.

The BUWOG affair, which is charged to Grasser, allegedly affected illegal commission payments in the privatization of 58,000 federal apartments in 2004 and the management of the tax authorities in the "Terminal Tower" in Linz. These apartments were sold for a total of 961 million euros. During a house search, around ten million euros in commission payments to the lobbyist Peter Hochegger were discovered. These funds are said to have been distributed through an international company network, which has led to a comprehensive investigation that has been going on since 2009. At the end of March 2025, the Supreme Court (OGH) reduced the original judgment against Grasser, which provided for an eight -year imprisonment, to four years, which also influenced the urgency of its inaccurate.

Conditions of detention and possibilities of premature discharge

The Innsbruck judge, into which Grasser is expected to enter, is popularly known as the "Ziegelstadl" and currently houses 504 inmates. The conditions of detention are functional and include basic furniture such as bed, shelf, table and stool. From September 2025, Grasser could be released prematurely under certain conditions, possibly also monitored with an electronic ankle bracelet. MeinDärzirk reports that the planned legislative reform provides for an expansion of electronic monitoring to up to two years.

Grasser has also announced legal steps to appeal against the long period of proceedings at the European Court of Human Rights. These legal challenges are not only important for Grasser, but also lead a light on the general rule of law in Austria.

political correlation and the need for reforms

The Kreutner report addresses the widespread political corruption in Austria, which was increasingly moved into the spotlight by scandals such as the Ibiza affair from 2019. Christian Pilnacek, a high-ranking judiciary, was found dead on the banks of the Danube in October 2023, which shows alarm signs regarding the pressure and manipulations in the judicial system. Constitutional blog emphasizes that the Austrian judiciary suffers from serious institutional weaknesses and that is necessary to ensure a real separation of judiciary and politics.

The reform proposals that will describe in the Kreutner report aim to reduce political interventions in criminal proceedings and to strengthen the independence of the judiciary. Such reforms currently do not seem to be a central election campaign topic for the upcoming parliamentary elections, but give an idea of ​​the need to improve the rule of law in Austria.

Overall, the Grasser case not only shows the problems of the individual politician, but also illuminates a major systemic problem that goes beyond the limits of individual misconduct.