MAIL Online: Austrian far-Right leader Jorg Haider's car may have been sabotaged before he crashed, it was claimed.
Haider died when his Volkswagen Phaeton veered off the road in the early hours of Saturday morning last week after a boozy celebration party for Austria's right wing leaders.
As throngs of right-wing crowds gathered for his funeral today, makers of the VW Phaeton limo he was driving insist their car is one of the safest in the world and should have survived the crash.
VW spokesman Peter Thul claimed that someone with access to Haider’s car key could have manipulated the car’s electrics.
The car giants have sent their own experts to examine the wreckage and search for signs it may have been sabotaged.
It has also been revealed that on the day of his death, Haider spent part of his last night drinking in a gay club called ‘Stadtkraemer.’
Police have told Haider's family he had a blood alcohol level of 1.8 pro mille - nearly four times Austria's 0.5 limit.
Thul told The Sun: “It is a fact that Haider was going too fast, but such a speed on that curve is not a problem for the car’s physics.
“The Phaeton and Audi A8 are the safest of all. You’d need the key to manipulate the electronics, so someone at a garage would have to tamper with it.
The Stadtkraemer – which translates to The City Shopkeeper – is a well known haunt for the Klagenfurt gay community and advertises itself on the Internet with the slogan: “Whether old or young, lesbian or gay, the restaurant is always cool.”
A fellow diner offered to drive Haider home because he looked the worse for wear, but the 58-year-old governor of the state of Carinthia turned him down.
Haider headed for the notorious gay establishment after his appearance at a night club, the public prosecutor in Klagenfurt confirmed.
He arrived at a quarter past midnight on Saturday morning, left thirty minutes later and was dead within half-an-hour.
Despite being married with two daughters, Haider was “outed” years ago by the Austrian and German press for being homosexual.
He never helped his family man image by turning up at rallies and local events with an entourage of young blond men.
Newspapers in his homeland said they were reluctant to publish “full details” of his homosexuality fearing an outburst of hate towards the gay community would overtake hatred towards foreigners.
According to German daily Taz, many members of Vienna's gay scene claimed he regularly had sex with young men below the age of consent - 18 for homosexuals.
As a result Taz wrote: "These days he prefers to meet with boys from nearby Slovakia" (where the age of consent is 15).
Hosi, or Homosexual Initiative, the biggest gay pressure group in Austria, said before his death: "We've known about Haider's homosexuality for about 10 years. >>> | October 17, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: Haider Was Drinking in a Gay Bar Before He Crashed
The Austrian far-Right politician Jörg Haider was seen drinking in a gay bar shortly before his fatal car crash.
Mr Haider, 58, was killed in the early hours of last Saturday when the car he was driving at 88mph, around twice the speed limit, crashed off a road in the southern province of Carinthia, where he served as governor.
Austrian media reported that the amount of alcohol in Mr Haider's blood was nearly four times the legal limit.
The politician, who was married with two daughters but was rumoured throughout his career to be a closet homosexual, spent the last part of his night alive in Stadtkraemer, a popular gay club in Klagenfurt. He arrived at Stadtkraemer at a quarter past midnight after having visited another nightclub, and left thirty minutes later, the public prosecutor in Klagenfurt said. >>> | October 17, 2008
DIE PRESSE: Landestrauer in Kärnten: "Bist du nit bei mir"
Klagenfurt. Mehr als 30.000 Trauergäste werden zur offiziellen Verabschiedung von Jörg Haider am Samstag in Klagenfurt erwartet. Wegen des großen Ansturms muss die Innenstadt für den Individualverkehr gesperrt werden. An der Peripherie wurden Auffangparkplätze eingerichtet, von denen Shuttle-Busse die Besucher in die Innenstadt bringen. >>> Von Robert Benedikt | 17. Oktober 2008
DIE PRESSE: Claudia Haider - Sein wahrer Lebensmensch
Alle Augen sind auf Haiders Witwe Claudia gerichtet. Sie könnte auch dessen politisches Erbe antreten.
Sie war – neben seiner Mutter – Jörg Haiders wahrer Lebensmensch: Ehefrau Claudia. Die Tiroler Försterstochter, geboren in Lenggries (Bayern), war 18 Jahre alt und hatte eben ihr Publizistikstudium begonnen, als sie auf einem Ball Jörg Haider kennenlernte. 1976 wurde in Bad Goisern geheiratet, das erste Kind war unterwegs: Tochter Ulrike. Drei Jahre später kam Cornelia zur Welt. >>> Von Oliver Pink | 17. Oktober 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
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