Coughing Case: Supreme Court

Coughing Case: Supreme Court

Coughing Case: Supreme Court

Re: the Legality of Accusing Healthy People of Spreading Deadly Contagion

 

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Facts of the Case

  • Dates: Feb 22, 2022 (OGH Decision)
  • Location: Austria
  • Court: Supreme Court (OGH)
  • Case #:
  • Plaintiff:
  • Plaintiff’s Lawyer:
  • Defendant: Public Prosecutor
  • Trial Type: Criminal Complaint
  • Judge:
  • Status: Decided
  • Verdict: for the Plaintiff


*updated 2022

Background

An Austrian woman from Carpathia who coughed in the direction of two police personnel after working in a Corona quarantine area was charged by the public prosecutor’s office of criminally endangering others with communicable disease. [1]

The woman did not evidence a positive PCR test result but was unashamedly accused of being a criminal threat to life. [1]

At first hearing, the Regional Court put a stop to this request. However, the public prosecutor would not give up and the case went through two further courts, the Higher Regional Court of Graz, and finally to the Supreme Court of Austria (Obergerichtshof or OGH). [1]

Each time, the woman was acquitted. [1]

 

Significance

First legal case in Europe to challenge the “new normal” notion that when a healthy person coughs they are sick and can infect or otherwise endanger the health of others.

 

Plaintiff’s Argument

Lawyer for the plaintiff, Arthur Berger argued that a healthy person could not logically endanger anyone [1]

 

Defendant’s Argument

…More information is needed…

 

Relevant Prior Judgements/ Cases

…More information is needed…

 

Decision

Quote from Supreme Court:

“If someone is not infected with a disease, the facts of the case (endangering people with transmissible diseases) cannot be fulfilled.” [1]

This information was given to “Kleine Zeitung” by the spokeswoman of the Supreme Court, Dr. Alexandra Michel-Kwapinski. [1]

The ruling has precedent character for all similar cases and applies not only to Corona, but to all notifiable infectious diseases. [1]

Specifically, anyone who is only suspected of having an infectious disease but can be shown not to have it may not be suspected of spreading it. [1]

Strictly speaking, this ruling should have far-reaching consequences for the entire corona and pandemic policy. [1]

 

Aftermath

…More information is needed…


Further Research

Court Documents:
  • Read the Court Ruling
In the news:
  • …More information is needed…

 

Media


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References


 

Keyword

asymptomatic, Austria, cough, Coughing, Graz, infectious disease, Obergerichtshof, OGH, pcr, Supreme Court, Transmission, transmission of infection


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FPO PCR Case

FPO PCR Case

FPO PCR Case

Re: the Legality & Efficacy of the PCR test to make a Covid diagnosis & prohibit meetings

 

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Facts of the Case

  • Dates: March 24, 2021
  • Location: Austria
  • Court: Vienna Administrative Court/ Verwaltungsgericht Wien
  • Case #: GZ : VGW- 7A3 / A4e I 3227 /2A2r-2
  • Plaintiff: Austrian party FPÖ
  • Defendant:
  • Trial Type:
  • Judge:
  • Status: End
  • Verdict: for the Plaintiff


*updated: Jan 26 2022

 

Background

In reaction to the the government’s prohibition of a meeting by the Austrian party FPÖ registered for January 31 in Vienna , the FPÖ took the government to court. [1]

Courts in Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands have previously ruled that PCR tests are not suitable for COVID-19 diagnosis and that lockdowns has no legal or scientific basis. [4]

Based on the definitions of the Minister of Health, “Case definition Covid-19” from December 23, 2020, a “confirmed case” [4]

  1. is any person with evidence of SARS-CoV-2-specific nucleic acid (PCR test), regardless of clinical manifestation or
  2. any person with evidence of SARS-CoV-specific antigen that meets the clinical criteria or
  3. any person with evidence of SARS-CoV-specific antigen that meets the epidemiological criteria.

 

Significance

Since all covid measures rest on the accuracy and believability of the PCR test to diagnose the covid disease, any decision against this throws into doubt the entire pandemic narrative.

 

Plaintiff’s Argument

The Plaintiff argued that the PCR test used to justify the prohibition is flawed and “not suitable for diagnostics”

Even according to the World Health Organization (WHO), “a PCR test is not suitable for diagnosis and therefore does not say anything about the disease or infection of a person”. However, the Minister of Health uses a completely different, much broader case definition for Covid-19 diseases, which cannot be used to justify the prohibition of a meeting.

In cases where the number of people infected with the corona was defined based on the Austrian Minister of Health and not on the WHO, any determination of the numbers for “sick/infected” is wrong.

 

Defendant’s Argument

…More information is needed…

 

Relevant Prior Judgements/ Cases

  • In October 2020, an Austrian court also declared lockdowns unconstitutional [3]
  • In a similar ruling, a Portuguese appeals court has ruled thatPCR tests are unreliable and that it is unlawful to quarantine people based solely on a PCR test. [4]
  • German court in a landmark ruling has declared that COVID-19 lockdowns imposed by the government are unconstitutional. [4]
  • Thuringia’s spring lockdown was a “catastrophically wrong political decision with dramatic consequences for almost all areas of people’s lives,” the court said, justifying its decision. [4]
  • Earlier, an American federal judge ruled coronavirus restrictions in Pennsylvania as unconstitutional. [4]
  • Even the Hague Court has ruled that the COVID-19 lockdown which was imposed by the Dutch Govt had no legal basis and that it was illegal. [4]

    However, the Dutch appeals court overturned the ruling within hours which ordered the government to lift the “illegitimate” measure immediately. [4]

    The appeals judges argued that they wanted to avoid what they called a “yo-yo effect,” referring to public confusion around whether the curfew was still in force. [4]

 

Decision

Austrian court issued a sensational judgment on March 24, which slapped the government’s covid policy. The court states that a PCR covid-test is not suitable for determining infectivity. This factually correct judgment indirectly rejects the entire corona policy in Austria, which is based on this test. [1]

“The prohibition was wrong,” it says. Based on scientific studies, the court stated that the grounds for the prohibition put forward by the Vienna State Police Department are completely unfounded.  The court agrees with the statements in the complaint “on all points” and even goes far beyond the arguments put forward by the FPÖ itself. The criteria and definitions used to determine the number of corona victims is massively questioned. [1]

The court came to the conclusion that the “information” from the Vienna City Health Service, on which the prohibition by the Vienna State Police Department was based, “did not contain any valid and evidence-based statements or findings on the epidemic”. [1]

The court says that based on scientific studies, the prohibition put forward by the Vienna State Police Department is completely unfounded. The ruling also states that the case definition used by the Ministry of Health contradicts that of the World Health Organization, which refuses to rely solely on PCR tests to diagnose infection [see WHO finally admits the problem of PCR tests for a brief summary]. [2]

It is expressly pointed out that, even according to the World Health Organization, a PCR test is not suitable for diagnosis and therefore does not in itself say anything about the disease or infection of a person”. [4]

“However, the Minister of Health uses a completely different, much broader case definition for Covid-19 diagnosis, which cannot be used to justify the prohibition of a meeting.[4]

The court came to the conclusion that the “information” from the Vienna City Health Service, on which the prohibition by the Vienna State Police Department was based, did not contain any valid and evidence-based statements or findings on the pandemic”. [4]

 

Aftermath

Despite this ruling the Austrian Government in November pushed harder on its emergency measures by becoming the first nation to mandate covid vaccines for all by Feb 1 2022.

 


Further Research

Court Documents:
In the news:

 

Media

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