Austrian ex-MEP Ernst Strasser jailed for bribe-taking

BBC News, 14 January 2013

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• Austrian ex-MEP Strasser on trial

Mr Strasser's meeting with British
 undercover reporters in 2011
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A former Austrian interior minister and Euro MP, Ernst Strasser, has been sentenced to four years in jail after being convicted of bribe-taking.

Strasser, 56, of the conservative Austrian People's Party, was one of four MEPs caught up in a "cash-for-laws" scandal in 2011.

He was exposed by reporters from the UK's Sunday Times newspaper, who secretly filmed him while posing as lobbyists.

Strasser denied any wrongdoing.

He said he had resigned to protect his conservative People's Party.

He said he had guessed that the "lobbyists" were fake, but had played along with the ruse in order to find out what was actually motivating the pair, who dined with him before the Sunday Times expose in March 2011.

He was filmed being offered a 100,000-euro (£81,000; $130,000) annual payment in exchange for influencing EU legislation in the European Parliament.

Alexandra Maruna, for the prosecution, said Strasser had "massively harmed European politics" and deserved to be punished for abusing confidence in elected officials.

Strasser served as Austrian interior minister from 2000 to 2004 and in the European Parliament from 2009 to 2011.

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