Austrian Journalist Convicted in Holocaust Restitution Case Vows to Appeal
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Version 0 of 1. PARIS — Stephan Templ, an Austrian journalist convicted of defrauding the Austrian state of about $748,000 in a Holocaust restitution case, vowed Friday to appeal to the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, after a high court in Vienna sentenced him to one year in prison and two years of probation. Mr. Templ was accused of defrauding the state by willfully omitting his estranged aunt, Elisabeth Kretschmer, 84, from a restitution claim he made on behalf of his 80-year-old mother in 2005 for his family’s grand Victorian hospital that was looted by the Nazis in 1938. Legal experts have been watching the case closely as it is a rare example of a disputed Holocaust restitution claim being settled in a criminal court rather than a civil court. An Austrian lower court had initially recommended a three-year sentence for Mr. Templ, in a ruling that was upheld by the country’s Supreme Court. Mr. Templ came to prominence as one of the authors of a 2001 book that detailed how leading Viennese attractions and businesses had been seized by the Nazis and never returned. Mr. Templ said he would appeal the verdict, which he said was unjustified. “The verdict is wrong,” he said. “I am angry. This is completely unfair.” While Mr. Templ has said he felt no legal obligation to include an estranged aunt in his restitution application, prosecutors argued that he had lied and committed fraud by purposely leaving her out. |