After 100 days on remand custody with out concrete charge or evidence, leader of the Austrian Greens Alexander Van der Bellen has visited Dr Martin Balluch in prison and has invited him to run as an independent candidate for the Greens in the upcoming national election on 28th September.

Balluch will be elected at the Green Party congress on Sept 7th. Van der Bellen told the Austrian Standard newspaper "I have invited Balluch to run as a candidate for the Green party, he will be given a place high up on the list of candidates." He went on to say that "this unbelievably precise thinking intellectual has been held now for over 100 days in prison. The Mafia-law being used against animal protectionists goes far outside what is admissible."

Van der Bellen described Balluch's candidateship to the ORF (Austrian TV) as "An expression of appreciation for the work of non-governmental organisations."

 http://www.austriasolidarity.com
 http://www.vgt.at/index_en.php