 Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache called the election of Graf a "victory for democracy" and emphasized his belief that Graf was a seasoned and "irreproachable parliamentarian".On 12 February 2009, the Public Prosecutor's office in Vienna asked the parliament to lift his immunity because they wanted to charge him with embezzlement and fraud in connection with his former job as a manager of the Austrian Research Centers.The prosecutor's focus was on Graf's severance payment and the bonus he got when the ARC was in financial difficulties.