Possible false statement: Trial surrounding possible false statements by Austrian ex-chancellor Kurz

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Sebastian Kurz (37) is suspected of making false statements. The Public Prosecution Service is convinced that he lied to the Ibiza parliamentary investigation committee. The former head of government is said to have had considerably more influence on the appointment of his confidant Thomas Schmid as head of the state holding company Öbag than he admitted in the committee. The prosecutor’s indictment, which includes two other suspects in addition to Kurz, runs to 108 pages.

Kurz strongly denies the allegations. His lawyer speaks of a ‘mere accumulation of false arguments’. The crime carries a prison sentence of up to three years. The process will initially take three days, but will likely take significantly longer. The media interest is enormous. About a hundred journalists have registered for the trial.

Admitted under questioning

The Ibiza Commission of Inquiry was established to expose possible job haggling and corruption within the Kurz government. In June 2020, the then Chancellor and ÖVP leader Kurz was interviewed as a respondent for four hours. Regarding the top staff at the newly established state holding company Öbag, MPs wanted to know how involved Kurz was in the appointment of Schmid as the new Öbag boss. “Involved in the sense of informed, yes,” Kurz replied at one point.

He did not actively plan the workforce. Managing the state holding company, which manages the state’s multibillion-dollar business investments, is one of the top jobs in the Austrian economy.

Lying intentionally or negligently?

Opposition MPs saw the statements as a false statement. After a long investigation, their complaint resulted in a criminal complaint. To convict, the court would have to conclude that Kurz lied intentionally and not merely out of negligence. The defense points out that the Public Prosecution Service misinterprets various statements made by Kurz.

A false ‘meaning’ is attributed to the statements, according to a counter-statement. Overall, the extremely aggressive mood during the four-hour interrogation at the investigative committee in June 2020 must also be taken into account. “Sebastian Kurz was interrupted or interrupted more than thirty times during his testimony,” the defense continued.

Coalition collapsed over the Ibiza video

The trial against Kurz is part of the process to come to terms with the government era of the conservative ÖVP and the right-wing FPÖ from 2017 to 2019. The coalition collapsed in 2019 after the Ibiza video was published. In the secretly recorded compilation, then FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache appeared to be susceptible to corruption. Subsequently, the Ibiza Commission of Inquiry was established to investigate evidence of labor haggling and corruption within the Kurz government.

Kurz resigned as chancellor in the fall of 2021 and left politics completely a short time later. He now runs a 50-employee cybersecurity company in Tel Aviv, as well as a consulting and investment firm.

The Public Prosecution Service is currently also investigating the so-called advertising affair. It concerns suspicions of disloyalty, bribery and bribery. Decorated surveys and government advertisements in tabloid newspapers – both in favor of Kurz – are said to have been paid for with taxpayer money. An investigation is underway against several suspects. Here too, Kurz denies the allegations. (SDA)

Source: Blick