Christian Pilnacek passed away: Obituary and cause of death announced!

The Ministry of Justice confirmed the death of the suspended section chief. The Criminal Police Office of the State of Lower Austria will initiate an autopsy.

Former department head of the Ministry of Justice, Christian Pilnacek, passed away. The Ministry of Justice confirmed a report on the matter by the “profile” news magazine on Friday. According to the police, a man’s body was found near Krems, but no other information about the death is known. The Criminal Police Office of the State of Lower Austria has taken over the investigation and will request an autopsy from the Krems prosecutor’s office.

For years, Pilnacek was the most powerful man in the Justice Department, next to the minister in question. He was considered a proven criminal law expert involved in numerous reform projects. He was promoted to General Secretary at Turkuaz-Mavi and was dismissed in 2021. The then Ministry of Finance had advised the head of the cabinet in a chat message (“This is a coup”; “They are playing unfairly; only complaining works…”) to take legal action against house searches in the area. An audit complaint was filed against the responsible clerk by the Ministry of Finance’s Economy and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA).