4 LINGENS v. AUSTRIA JUGDMENT aroused great public interest because before the elections on 5 October the possibility of a Kreisky-Peter coalition government had been canvassed. At the interview, Mr. Kreisky excluded the possibility of such a coalition because his party had won an absolute majority. However, he vigorously supported Mr. Peter and referred to Mr. Wiesenthal’s organisation and activities as a "political mafia" and "mafia methods". Similar remarks were reported the next day in a Vienna daily newspaper to which he had given an interview. 11. At this juncture, the applicant published two articles in the Vienna magazine Profil. 12. The first was published on 14 October 1975 under the heading "The Peter Case" ("Der Fall Peter"). It related the above events and in particular the activities of the first SS infantry brigade; it also drew attention to Mr. Peter’s role in criminal proceedings instituted in Graz (and later abandoned) against persons who had fought in that brigade. It drew the conclusion that although Mr. Peter was admittedly entitled to the benefit of the presumption of innocence, his past nevertheless rendered him unacceptable as a politician in Austria. The applicant went on to criticise the attitude of Mr. Kreisky whom he accused of protecting Mr. Peter and other former members of the SS for political reasons. With regard to Mr. Kreisky’s criticisms of Mr. Wiesenthal, he wrote "had they been made by someone else this would probably have been described as the basest opportunism" ("Bei einem anderen würde man es wahrscheinlich übelsten Opportunismus nennen"), but added that in the circumstances the position was more complex because Mr. Kreisky believed what he was saying. 13. The second article, published on 21 October 1975, was entitled "Reconciliation with the Nazis, but how?" ("Versöhnung mit den Nazis aber wie?"). It covered several pages and was divided into an introduction and six sections: "‘Still’ or ‘Already’", "We are all innocent", "Was it necessary to shoot defenceless people?", "Why is it still a question for discussion?", "Helbich and Peter" and "Politically ignorant". 14. In the introduction Mr. Lingens recalled the facts and stressed the influence of Mr. Kreisky’s remarks on public opinion. He criticised him not only for supporting Mr. Peter, but also for his accommodating attitude towards former Nazis who had recently taken part in Austrian politics. 15. Under the heading "‘Still’ or ‘Already’" the applicant conceded that one could not object to such attitudes on grounds of "Realpolitik". According to him "the time has passed when for electoral reasons one had to take account not only of Nazis but also of their victims ... the former have outlived the latter ...". Nevertheless Austria, which had produced Hitler and Eichmann and so many other war criminals, had not succeeded in coming to terms with its past; it had simply ignored it. This policy risked delivering the country into the hands of a future fascist movement.