Austria’s former chancellor Sebastian Kurz was sentenced to a suspended sentence of eight months for making false statements. In its ruling, the Vienna Regional Court considered it proven that Kurz had exercised greater influence in the appointment of the supervisory board of the state holding company Öbag than he had admitted to the Ibiza investigative committee in 2020.
The defendant wanted to give the impression that he had only been asked for his opinion on this matter. “This is something that is simply not covered in the evidence as a whole,” said Judge Michael Radasztics. Öbag manages the state’s investments in various companies. The verdict is not yet legally binding. The second defendant, former head of cabinet Bernhard Bonelli, also received a suspended sentence of six months for making false statements.
Kurz described his first-instance conviction for making false statements as unfair. “It surprised me very much. I don’t think it’s fair either,” he said in the Vienna district court. “I am very optimistic that we will be right in a second instance,” said the former conservative head of government. His defense lawyers had previously announced an appeal against the verdict.
In the case of the appointment of Thomas Schmid, then Kurz’s confidant, as head of Öbag, the court acquitted the 37-year-old of the charge of making false statements. In his statements, Schmid “did not incriminate the former chancellor as clearly as was often perceived,” the judge continued.
Conviction of Kurz is likely to provide campaign ammunition
The trial was followed with excitement in Austria. The Alpine republic is facing a super election year with local and state elections, the European elections and the National Council election, which is expected to take place at the end of September. The conviction of Kurz, who was very popular as chancellor and ÖVP leader, is likely to provide campaign ammunition for his political opponents. “If an ex-chancellor is convicted, then it becomes a millstone for the ÖVP in matters of corruption and nepotism,” says political consultant Thomas Hofer.
The 37-year-old Kurz, who now works as an entrepreneur after his resignation and fundamental departure from politics at the end of 2021, headed a coalition between the ÖVP and the right-wing FPÖ from 2017 to 2019. From 2020 to 2021 he led an alliance between the ÖVP and the Greens. In connection with the Ibiza affair involving ex-Vice Chancellor and ex-FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache, which was exposed in 2019, parliament set up a committee of inquiry into the “suspected venality of the black-blue government”. The committee should investigate suspicions of corruption and nepotism during the time of the ÖVP-FPÖ coalition.
At the time of his statement in the summer of 2020, Kurz was more popular than ever, especially given his management of the Corona crisis. He had always promised the citizens a “new style” without the nepotism that was widespread in Austria. This is considered to be one reason why he downplayed his influence in the Öbag occupation in the investigative committee.
Prosecution: Kurz did not live up to his role as a role model
In its plea regarding the defendant’s possible motive, the public prosecutor’s office said that Kurz had acted this way for PR-tactical reasons – “to avoid unwanted political and media criticism because of obvious job haggling,” said senior public prosecutor Georg Adamovic. A false statement is not a trivial offense, especially when a Federal Chancellor testifies before a parliamentary committee. According to the prosecutors, Kurz did not live up to the role model function of politicians.
Aside from the current trial, the ex-chancellor is threatened with a second trial. In the so-called advertising affair, the then head of government and his team are said to have commissioned fake surveys with taxpayer money. They are also said to have hoped for well-meaning coverage by placing advertisements in various media. The investigation into suspicion of bribery, corruption and breach of trust is ongoing against ten suspects.
It was no coincidence that the opposition SPÖ reacted with a reference to the future. “This is rather a smaller venue for the legal analysis of the Kurz system,” said SPÖ politician Jan Krainer. The Kurz era will keep the courts busy for years to come.
