© Puls 4

17. 11. 09. - 16:00

• more General News news
• RSS Feed General News

17. 11. 09. - 16:00

Kampusch dismisses blackmail claims

By Thomas Hochwarter

Former kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch has rubbished claims she is being blackmailed over the alleged existence of pornographic video material.

Kampusch – who was snatched off the street on her way to school aged ten in 1998 – stressed in an interview for ORF programme "Thema": "I am not being blackmailed."

Asked about paedophile sex videos allegedly recorded in the cellar dungeon she was held in for eight years by pervert Wolfgang Priklopil, the 21-year-old said: "They don’t exist."

A German man, Thomas Vogel, recently claimed he possessed a video showing Kampusch and two men in the cellar prison. German police last week confiscated documents at his Tengen flat. Austrian state prosecutors have refused to give further details on the materials.

Ludwig Adamovich, former head of the Austrian Constitutional Court and current head of a six-member special commission investigating whether police covered up controversial facts in the Kampusch case, recently said Kampusch’s life could be in danger as Priklopil accomplices bid to kill her to stop her exposing them.

Speaking on TV last night, Kampusch – who escaped the clutches of her pervert kidnapper in August 2006 – said: "I don’t know whether there is ,or was, an accomplice. I only ever saw Mr. Priklopil. But I don’t think the case will ever be completely solved."

Ernst Holzapfel, the former best friend of Wolfgang Priklopil, is meanwhile facing investigations over his possible involvement in the case. The businessman admitted in nine-hour police interviews last Friday that Priklopil confessed his crime before he committed suicide by jumping in front of a train on the day Kampusch escaped.

Holzapfel’s lawyer Manfred Ainedter said his client has only admitted this now because of fears he could become "involved" in the case.

Ainedter said he expected investigations against Holzapfel to be abandoned.

But Graz prosecutor Thomas Mühlbacher, who is leading the investigations, said: "Mister H. (Holzapfel) suddenly changed his version of the story after three years."

Kampusch reportedly rarely leaves her home these days and recently compared the life she is living now to one of a "hermit crab".

Austrian Times

Related articles: police scandals

1. Vienna police under fire over recruit campaign

   » General News 2010-03-17

   Viennese police have been confronted with harsh criticism of a new recruitment initiative.

2. Linz court acquits all 1 May demonstrators

   » General News 2010-02-12

   All the demonstrators arrested on 1 May 2009 in Linz for alleged attacks on police have been acquitted, with the last being formally acquitted yesterday (Thurs)

3. Prohibited Vienna demonstration ends with 14 arrested

   » General News 2010-02-01

   Protestors set a police car and a shop ablaze as police tried to break up an illegal demonstration against Vienna’s Corporation Ball organised by right-wing student unions.

4. Shooting suspect escaped police station week before, cops admit

   » General News 2010-01-15

   An alleged Serb mobster suspected of gunning down a Vienna policeman this week escaped from a Lower Austrian police station just a week before the shooting, it emerged today (Fri).

5. Cops lose appeal over migrant beating

   » General News 2010-01-08

   Four Vienna cops who left a Gambian man with broken bones after a vicious assault in his cell as he awaited deportation have lost an appeal against disciplinary sanctions over the actions.

6. Police admit mistakes as Kampusch case investigations end

   » General News 2010-01-08

   A leading police investigator has admitted "big mistakes" in the search for the kidnapper of Natascha Kampusch as officials today (Fri) announced the case was closed.

7. Policeman who killed boy to be tried

   » General News 2010-01-05

   A policeman who shot and killed a 14-year-old in a supermarket is to be tried for manslaughter, it has been announced.

8. Kampusch 'fled twice but returned on same day'

   » General News 2010-01-04

   Kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch fled her sick jailer twice during captivity – but came back to him within hours of each attempt, a magazine has claimed.

9. Escape claims a 'sheer lie', Kampusch says

   » General News 2010-01-04

   Kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch has branded claims she fled her sick jailer twice during captivity but returned within hours a "sheer lie".

10. Kampusch case investigations to continue in 2010

    » General News 2009-12-30

    Investigations into the kidnapping of Natascha Kampusch will continue next year, it has emerged.

Related articles: Natascha Kampusch

1. Incest uncle gets six years in prison

   » General News 2010-03-19

   A Vienna man who shacked up with his then 13-year-old niece in a "love relationship" for a year and a half was sentenced to six years in prison in Vienna Criminal Court yesterday (Thurs).

2. Kampusch kidnapper pal faces trial

   » General News 2010-03-16

   The best mate and business partner of Natascha Kampusch kidnapper Wolfgang Priklopil is facing charges for complicity in suicide, it emerged today (Tues).

3. ATV to air Kampusch documentary

   » General News 2010-01-15

   Private broadcaster ATV has sensationally secured the rights to screen an eagerly awaited documentary on Natascha Kampusch’s eight-year cellar ordeal.

4. Kampusch dad doubts kidnapper acted alone

   » General News 2010-01-11

   Kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch’s dad has said he doubts his daughter’s kidnapper acted alone.

5. Police admit mistakes as Kampusch case investigations end

   » General News 2010-01-08

   A leading police investigator has admitted "big mistakes" in the search for the kidnapper of Natascha Kampusch as officials today (Fri) announced the case was closed.

6. Kampusch 'fled twice but returned on same day'

   » General News 2010-01-04

   Kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch fled her sick jailer twice during captivity – but came back to him within hours of each attempt, a magazine has claimed.

7. Escape claims a 'sheer lie', Kampusch says

   » General News 2010-01-04

   Kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch has branded claims she fled her sick jailer twice during captivity but returned within hours a "sheer lie".

8. Kampusch case investigations to continue in 2010

   » General News 2009-12-30

   Investigations into the kidnapping of Natascha Kampusch will continue next year, it has emerged.

9. Kampusch climbdown over 'Austrian aggressiveness'

   » General News 2009-12-18

   Natascha Kampusch has blamed "excitement" in front of interested journalists for a string of controversial comments about Austria and Vienna at a press conference in Germany this week.

10. Jailer beat me and shaved my head, Kampusch reveals

    » General News 2009-12-17

    Kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch has told of how her hygiene-obsessed jailer would beat her if she left marks on objects when he let her out of the special dungeon he held her in for eight years.

RI's Croat subsidiary gets €30mn credit
Raiffeisen International’s (RI) Croatian subsidiary Raiffeisenbank Austria d.d. received a 30-million-Euro credit by the German Investment and Development Society (DEG), it was announced.

Austrian Catholics turn on church
Austrian Roman Catholics are up in arms over sex scandals involving local priests and children with increasing numbers threatening to quit the church.

Wolford's earnings up in first three quarters
Vorarlberg textile firm Wolford reported today (Fri) that its earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) had increased in the first three quarters of its 2009/2010 business year.

More foreign holidays planned this year
More Austrians are planning on holidays abroad this year after 2009 saw a drop in numbers, according to a study by public opinion research agency Karmasin.

Siemens Austria to lay off 500 to 600
Siemens Austria said today (Fri) it would lay off 500 to 600 of 2,000 workers in software division SIS (IT solutions and services) in the near future.

Graz police smash drug ring
An Iranian asylum seeker thought to be the boss of a drug-dealing gang has been arrested along with 11 cohorts, police said today (Fri).

Verbund could lose interest in French Poweo
Austrian energy provider Verbund’s 46 per cent interest in French electricity provider Poweo may become less valuable if the firm makes good on its threat to stop providing service to end customers.

Kasabian roll into Vienna
British indie rock giants Kasabian will return to Austria this summer, it has been revealed.

Paraglider crashes against bus
A 34-year-old paraglider escaped with bruises after smashing into a moving bus in Eben, Tyrol, yesterday (Thurs).

KHM happy with visitor figures and annual ticket sales
Vienna’s Museum of Art (Kunsthistorisches Museum, KHM) bosses said yesterday (Thurs) earnings last year and visitor figures in the first two months of this year were up.