Austria / Austrian Press Council (Österreichischer Presserat), W3 Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H. & Co Verlag KG

Country

Austria

Title

Austria / Austrian Press Council (Österreichischer Presserat), W3 Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H. & Co Verlag KG

View full case

Year

2023

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Friday, November 03, 2023

Incident(s) concerned/related

Discrimination

Related Bias motivation

Racial or ethnic origin

Groups affected

Muslims

Court/Body type

High regulatory authority

Court/Body

Austrian Press Council (Österreichischer Presserat)

Key facts of the case

An article published in the weekly newspaper "Zur Zeit" deals with the appointment of Omar Haijawi-Pirchner as head of the Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service (Direktion Staatsschutz und Nachrichtendienst). It centres on the accusation that Haijawi-Pirchner's father was of Arab origin and that this had a negative impact on the leadership of the Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service.

Main reasoning/argumentation

In the opinion of the Senate, the article alleges that Haijawi-Pirchner acts differently with suspects of Muslim origin or takes less consistent action against them, without any concrete evidence of this being cited in the article. In addition, the article is likely to increase mistrust of Muslims or fuel resentment: the author conveys the impression that people of Muslim origin are generally less suitable to head a security authority in Austria; this is also supported by the author's comment that a presumed Muslim should remain modestly in the background or be grateful to live here.

Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?

Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case

The Austrian Press Council found that this article violated the “Principles for journalistic work - Code of Honour for the Austrian Press” (Point 7.2) - prohibiting any discrimination based on age, disability, gender, ethnic, national, religious, sexual, ideological or other grounds

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

The Austrian Press Council requested the ‘W3 Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H. & Co Verlag KG’ to publish or announce the decision voluntarily in the medium concerned.

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

"Rufschädigende Mutmaßungen ohne sachliche Grundlage müssen jedoch auch Spitzenbeamtinnen und -beamten nicht hinnehmen [...] . Darüber hinaus ist der Artikel geeignet, das Misstrauen gegenüber Musliminnen und Muslimen zu vergrößern bzw. Ressentiments zu schüren: Der Autor vermittelt den Eindruck, dass Menschen muslimischer Herkunft generell weniger geeignet seien, in Österreich an der Spitze einer Sicherheitsbehörde zu stehen." "However, even top civil servants do not have to accept reputationally damaging assumptions without any factual basis [...] . Furthermore, the article is likely to increase mistrust of Muslims and fuel resentment: the author conveys the impression that people of Muslim origin are generally less suitable to head a security authority in Austria."

DISCLAIMERThe information presented here is collected under contract by the FRA's research network FRANET. The information and views contained do not necessarily reflect the views or the official position of the FRA.