An Austrian court decides on the further imprisonment of a Slovak accused of blackmailing the German company Hipp.
The regional court in the city of Eisenstadt in Burgenland, Austria, decides on Tuesday whether to extend the detention of a 39-year-old man from Slovakia. The Austrians accuse him of blackmailing the baby food manufacturer Hipp.
In April, a case shook Central Europe. The investigation showed that the German company received an email on March 27 in which the extortionist demanded two million euros by April 2.
He threatened the company that if he did not receive the money, he would place two poisoned glasses in the Tesco stores in Brno in the Czech Republic and in Dunajská Streda in Slovakia, as well as in the Interspar store in Eisenstadt in Burgenland, Austria. The e-mail from the blackmailer was read in Hippa only on April 16, so it was too late.
Waiting for the results of the expertise
The Slovakian suspect was detained at the beginning of May and spent more than two weeks in pretrial detention in Eisenstadt. He denies before the Austrian authorities that he had anything to do with the poisoned jars of baby food or blackmailing his former employer, the company Hipp.
informs that lawyer Manfred Arbacher-Stöger hopes to have his client released. “There are individual clues, but not a single proof of guilt”, argues Arbacher-Stöger.
According to the lawyer, there are no new results of the investigation. However, according to ORF, the Eisenstadt prosecutor’s office claims that the investigation is in full swing. According to the spokeswoman of the prosecutor’s office, Petra Bauerová, a comparative expertise is currently being awaited.
The report should prove whether the rat poison from the accused’s apartment is the same as the one found in the jar of Hipp baby food in the Eisenstadt store.
