Austria: Parliament observes minute’s silence for president believed to be dead but alive | Politics

People who are declared dead live longer…

In Austria, there was an incredibly awkward standoff in parliament on Tuesday: MPs held a minute’s silence in the community group of former president Franz Vranitsky (85, SPÖ), who is said to have died — though Vranitsky is alive and must recover. Death was denied as reported by “default”.

SPÖ politician Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek (60) embarrassed himself by the act as he fell for a fake. The Social Democrat received a tweet from a WhatsApp acquaintance from the Twitter account of former Agriculture Minister Norbert Dotschnik (48, ÖVP). In it, Totschnig wrote that Vranitsky had died.

Fool: Notorious Italian fraudster Tommaso Debenedetti is actually behind the account. In 2011, he shocked oil prices when he posed as a Russian minister and announced the death of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, 57. According to his own reports, the author from Rome wants to use his actions to teach the media not to believe everything on the Internet.

Heinisch-Hocek, who doesn’t use Twitter, fell for DiBenedetti. Your SPÖ parliamentary group has requested a minute’s silence in the group. The scam was noticed during the meeting and the politician apologized.

Franz Vranitsky was an Austrian from 1986 to 1997 Principal. He celebrated his 85th birthday in October. (anything)