The focus of the dispute is supposedly Maurer’s controversial “stinky finger photo”.
Vienna/Graz (OTS) – The green club leader Sigi Maurer has sued the green grassroots association around former party leader Madeleine Petrovic, the “Green Association for Fundamental Rights and Freedom of Information (GGI for short)” – amount in dispute: EUR 35,000. Apparently it’s about an alleged copyright infringement because the GGI used the infamous “stinky finger photo” on X/Twitter in a comment on Maurer’s tweet. For Madeleine Petrovic, however, it is clear: this is an intimidation lawsuit to silence critical, internal Green voices.
– The Greens are once again in an internal dispute, this time between the current club boss Sigrid Maurer and the former top Green politician Madeleine Petrovic. The legal dispute is supposedly about the use of the controversial photo that shows Maurer with a champagne glass and an extended middle finger after the Greens were thrown out of the National Council in 2017.
Those who live in glass houses…”
When Sigi Maurer discussed hatred and infamy on X/Twitter, the GGI commented on the tweet with the words “Who sits in a glass house…” and backed up this claim with the infamous Stinky finger photo. Maurer promptly sued the GGI association – amount in dispute: EUR 35,000. The GGI counters this: Use on Twitter is permitted within the scope of the license. Above all, the statement and the image quote are covered by freedom of expression according to the relevant case law. As Maurer knows, such a slap lawsuit (intimidation lawsuit) threatens the existence of a voluntary grassroots association.
“We won’t let this silence us,” so Petrovic. „This approach is a clear attack on freedom of expression and democratic discourse. It is high time for the Green party leadership to abandon its authoritarian attitude and return to internal party democracy and the Greens’ basic values.“
The GGI is now calling for donations in order to be able to continue the active work for fundamental rights and freedom of information – despite the lawsuit.
Donation account:
GGI – Green Association for Fundamental Rights and Freedom of Information
IBAN: AT65 2025 6000 0062 5665
The conflict has been simmering for a long time
“Sigi Maurer leads the club with a strict hand. Since then, real, internal discourse and grassroots democracy have no longer been in demand. “Message control based on Fleischmann’s model is the new motto,” said former Green Party leader Petrovic. The Greens came into power at that time to make politics for the people. Real environmental protection, peace policy and human rights were the program.
Since the Greens came into government, there has hardly been anything left of it. Around a third of the electorate has already turned away from the party. Due to these developments, almost 6,000 officials, party members and Green voters, as well as numerous ex-Greens, gathered around the former club chairwoman Madeleine Petrovic at the beginning of 2022 to protest against the Green government policies – both publicly and within the party.
Explanatory video: https://ggi-initiative.at/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/sigim.mp4
Further information about the GGI association: www.ggi-initiative.at,
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