- The man suspected of extorting Hipp remains in custody until June 19.
- The court in Eisenstadt sees the suspect as a risk of escape and continuation of criminal activity.
- The man faces charges of extortion, attempted grievous bodily harm and falsification of documents.
- Toxicologists found that rat poison in baby food was not fatal.
- The Austrian authorities cooperate with Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The suspect in the case of attempted extortion of the German baby food manufacturer Hipp will remain in custody until June 19. The regional court in Eisenstadt decided on this on Tuesday due to the threat of escape, concealment of evidence and continuation of criminal activity. According to the Austrian media, 39-year-old man born in Slovakia; his lawyer announced an appeal against the court’s decision. The APA agency informed about it, writes TASR.
According to the court, the suspicion of attempted serious blackmail, attempted grievous bodily harm and falsification of documents was confirmed at the hearing. The last point concerns the false payslips submitted to obtain the loan, which the man admitted. The higher regional court in Vienna will decide on the appeal. The prosecutor’s office in Eisenstadt also investigated the suspicion of a general threat. However, this accusation, as well as the adjective “intentional” in the attempt to cause grievous bodily harm, was withdrawn.
A poisoned cup of HiPP baby food with carrots and potatoes found in the Austrian state of Burgenland has already been toxicologically analyzed and concluded that the dose of rat poison in it was not life-threatening. However, it was enough to cause health problems such as mild bleeding in small children. According to the prosecutor’s office in Eisenstadt, it is it remains to be determined if this is the same rat poison that was found at the suspect’s residence.
His legal representative Manfred Arbacher-Stöger has already declared that the man needed this poison for his farm in Slovakia. The Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung quoted from the recording of the first interrogation of the suspect, a former employee of the company Hipp. At the time, he denied the allegations and explained his possession of rat poison by saying he had “a lot of mice in the garden”.
The investigation in the case continues in full, the prosecutor’s office in Eisenstadt told APA. It cooperates in a coordinated manner with the authorities in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, where two more contaminated jars of baby food were found in April.
