Austria | The death of a doctor causes scandal

Austria is shaken by the tragic end of a prominent 36-year-old doctor in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic who ended her life in her clinic a week ago after suffering a an intense campaign of harassment.

Marc Thibodeau
The Press

Lisa-Maria Kellermayr had repeatedly complained publicly, both on Twitter and in local media, of receiving threats “from circles opposed to anti-COVID-19 measures and vaccination” without receiving help.

“What is tragic in her case is that she asked the police to protect her, but nothing was really done. They even reproached him on several occasions for wanting to find himself in the spotlight,” underlines Teresa Eder, a political scientist of Austrian origin.

The difficulties of the doctor, relates M^me Eder, began in earnest in November when she accused health opponents online of blocking access to a health facility in her hometown during a protest.

His release “ignited the fire” and led to a cascade of hostile emails that continued for months.

The doctor notably wrote in the spring, describing her tasks, that receiving a new batch of “insults, insults and threats” was part of her daily life.

She took a direct swipe at her online critics, noting that health care practitioners shouldn’t have to endure such abuse.

Messages reproduced on Twitter indicate in particular that an Internet user using a pseudonym promised that she would be condemned by a people’s court and executed. Another planned to massacre her along with the staff of his clinic, located in Upper Austria.

Fearing the worst, she had hired the services of a private security guard to filter the comings and goings and protect herself against possible aggressors.

Closing of his clinic

In a long series of tweets where she announced her decision to close the clinic at the end of June, the practitioner announced that she had spent more than 100,000 euros to ensure the protection of the premises and that this cost far exceeded the profits that could be generated. by his practice.

His lifeless body was found at the facility a month later. The police concluded that it was a suicide after finding notes to this effect on the spot.

An autopsy was carried out on Wednesday at the request of the family, without revealing any anomaly likely to suggest that she could have been killed.

Posthumous support

Demonstrations took place at the beginning of the week in support of the doctor, who also received for the occasion the posthumous support of several elected officials.

Health Minister Johannes Rauch said he was “deeply shocked” by the doctor’s death and stressed that the “hate online” must stop.

The media ignited the subject by questioning the work of the police authorities, who say they have done “everything possible” to protect her.

Far right

Law enforcement is currently reportedly interested in two far-right-linked suspects who are located in Germany, but no arrests have been made to date.

The neighboring country of Austria saw the emergence two years ago of an organized movement against health measures, called Querdenker, which started in the Stuttgart region before spreading.

The movement’s activists, who claim to think “outside the box”, have disputed the very existence of the virus and reject the health measures adopted by the government, including vaccination, notes Ms.^me Eder, who noted “obvious” links within the organization with the far right.

The D^r Peter Bobbert, president of the Berlin Medical Association, emailed The Press that the Querdenker movement was producing hate propaganda online and had contributed to the marked deterioration in the working climate suffered by many German doctors since the start of the pandemic.

Austria has experienced a similar deterioration, note several local analysts, who are indignant to see that the death of Lisa-Maria Kellermayr arouses enthusiastic comments on social networks in groups close to the extreme right.

The editor-in-chief of the Viennese daily The StandardColette M. Schmidt, denounced the situation in a scathing text in which she noted that “hatred of women, hostility towards science and cowardice” of the state pushed the practitioner to the limit.