Latest news with #SebastianKurz
New York Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Former Austrian Chancellor Cleared of Perjury, but Legal Woes Remain
Sebastian Kurz, a former chancellor of Austria, was acquitted Monday of charges that he lied to a parliamentary inquiry, clearing his name in a legal matter that has tarnished his reputation since before he resigned in 2021. A court in Vienna overturned an earlier ruling that found he had lied about the extent to which he was involved with installing an ally to a government panel while he was chancellor. The ruling Monday overturned an eight-month suspended sentence handed down by a lower court last year. 'The objective elements of false testimony were not met,' said Judge Werner Röggla, who led the three-judge panel. At issue was not Mr. Kurz's meddling itself, but whether he had properly characterized the degree to which he was involved. In studying video of the exchange, which occurred in 2020, the judges found that Mr. Kurz had been truthful in his answers, if incomplete. Had he had been given more time to testify, the court said, he could have given a more complete answer. The court found that Mr. Kurz's chief of staff had lied during the same committee inquiry and upheld an earlier sentence for him. The ruling is a vindication for Mr. Kurz, who since dropping out of politics in 2021 has been working in the business sector. He has long painted himself as a victim in the legal fight. 'You can probably imagine that it is difficult for me to understand why I am being prosecuted for not saying enough in response to a question, when I was even interrupted and unable to finish speaking,' a jubilant Mr. Kurz told reporters in Vienna on Monday. Monday's ruling did not clear Mr. Kurz of potential charges stemming from his involvement in coordinating the publication of doctored polls. A legal inquiry into that episode, which ultimately led him to resign in 2021, is still underway and could yet result in criminal charges. Mr. Kurz, who became Austria's youngest chancellor when he was sworn in December 2017 at 31, led two troubled governments. His first, during which he was in coalition with Austria's hard-right Freedom Party, fell apart after video emerged showing the leader of the that party apparently exchanging political favors with a woman he thought was niece of a Russian oligarch. A parliamentary inquiry launched to investigate wrongdoing in that episode led to the exchange for which Mr. Kurz was cleared on Monday. A favorable documentary movie on Mr. Kurz in 2023 led to speculation that he was preparing himself for a political comeback. But Mr. Kurz, who is 38, has always denied those rumors, and when the party he led, the Austrian People's party, was looking for new stewardship after a leader resigned suddenly last January, Mr. Kurz did not compete.
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First Post
26-05-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Austrian court overturns former Chancellor Kurz's suspended sentence, acquits him of false statements
Judges at Vienna's upper state court threw out Kurz's conviction after a short appeal hearing. The court found that 'the objective offense of giving false evidence was not fulfilled' read more A court in Vienna on Monday acquitted former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his government, reversing a verdict from last year in which Kurz was given a suspended prison sentence. Judges at Vienna's upper state court threw out Kurz's conviction after a short appeal hearing. The court found that 'the objective offense of giving false evidence was not fulfilled.' The case centered on Kurz's testimony to an inquiry that focused on the coalition he led from 2017, when his conservative Austrian People's Party formed a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, until its collapse in 2019. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Prosecutors accused the 38-year-old of having given false evidence in June 2020 regarding his role in the setting up of a holding company, OeBAG, which administers the state's role in some companies, and the appointment of former close confidant Thomas Schmid to its leadership. In February 2024, Kurz was found guilty of making false statements about the appointment of the company's supervisory board, though not about that of Schmid. He was given an eight-month suspended sentence. That verdict followed a four-month trial. It was the first time in more than 30 years that a former Austrian chancellor had stood trial. 'What came out is what I have always said — namely, that I did not tell untruths to the parliamentary inquiry,' Kurz said in a brief statement to reporters outside the courtroom after Monday's decision. 'I now have a long time in (legal) proceedings behind me, and to be honest I'd like to set out my position in detail, but I ask for your understanding that I'm going home to family and my two children first," Kurz added. Judges on Monday upheld the conviction and six-month suspended sentence of Kurz's former chief of staff, Bernhard Bonelli, for making a false statement to the parliamentary inquiry about his own involvement and that of Kurz in the selection of OeBAG supervisory board members. Kurz said he deeply regrets the decision on Bonelli. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Once a rising star among conservatives in Europe, Kurz resigned in 2021 after a separate corruption probe opened and has since left politics. His People's Party still leads the government under current Chancellor Christian Stocker, although it finished second in an election in September. Kurz rose to power with an anti-immigration platform and was only 31 when he became the leader of the People's Party and then chancellor in 2017. He pulled the plug on his first government after a video surfaced that showed the vice chancellor and Freedom Party leader at the time, Heinz-Christian Strache, appearing to offer favors to a purported Russian investor. Kurz returned to power in a new coalition with the environmentalist Greens in early 2020, but resigned in October 2021. The Greens had demanded his replacement after prosecutors announced that he was a target of a second investigation into suspected bribery and breach of trust. Kurz also denied any wrongdoing in that case. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD There has been periodic speculation about the possibility of Kurz making a political comeback.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Austria's ex-chancellor has conviction quashed
Austria's former chancellor Sebastian Kurz has won his appeal against a conviction for giving false testimony to a parliamentary committee. The court's ruling overturns last year's judgement and eight-month suspended prison sentence for the former political star. Once hailed a wunderkind of Europe's conservatives, the 38-year-old resigned as chancellor in 2021 and quit politics amid a series of allegations. Monday's acquittal removes a key obstacle to a potential political comeback, but he still faces investigation on separate corruption allegations. Last year, Kurz was found guilty of perjury for giving false testimony to a parliamentary committee. The case against him centred over allegations that he had been involved in the selection of executives on a newly-created state holding company when he was chancellor, as opposed to being merely kept informed. Kurz told a parliamentary probe in 2020 that he was "involved in the sense of informed". But the first trial judge deemed that declaration false and ruled that Kurz had played a more active role. However in his appeal Kurz argued that the judge who had convicted him was biased. The appeal bench of three judges ruled in his favour on Monday, reading out in their judgement that Kurz "was acquitted because the objective offence of giving false evidence was not fulfilled". Speaking to reporters outside court on Monday, Kurz said the years of accusations against him had "now all collapsed". "There have been numerous court hearings - a huge amount of confrontation with these accusations. You have all witnessed how much this has been celebrated and that it has now all collapsed," he said. He has also denied wrongdoing on the corruption allegations for which he is being investigated. Prosecutors are yet to decide whether to charge him over the allegations that he used public money to pay for favourable media coverage and to fund polls which exaggerated support for him. Kurz has not publicly voiced an intention to return to politics yet. Since quitting in 2021, he has been involved in several business ventures including the high-profile Dream cybsersecurity company, which he co-founded in 2023 with partners including the former boss of Israel's NSO firm that developed the controversial Pegasus spyware product. Kurz had previously headed the conservative Austrian's People's Party, leading the party to victories in 2017 and 2019 on a hardline immigration stance. The People's Party is still in charge in Austria after it managed to form a three-party coalition with the Social Democrats and a liberal party after elections last August. However that vote was won by the far-right Freedom Party, who seized on voter frustrations on the economy and migration. Despite topping parliamentary elections for the first time, they failed to form government.
26-05-2025
- Politics
A court acquits former Austrian leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements
VIENNA -- A court in Vienna on Monday acquitted former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his government, reversing a verdict from last year in which Kurz was given a suspended prison sentence. Judges at Vienna's upper state court threw out Kurz's conviction after a short appeal hearing, the Austria Press Agency reported. The case centered on Kurz's testimony to an inquiry that focused on the coalition he led from 2017, when his conservative Austrian People's Party formed a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, until its collapse in 2019. Prosecutors accused the 38-year-old of having given false evidence in June 2020 regarding his role in the setting up of a holding company, OeBAG, which administers the state's role in some companies, and the appointment of former close confidant Thomas Schmid to its leadership. In February 2024, Kurz was found guilty of making false statements about the appointment of the company's supervisory board, though not about that of Schmid. He was given an eight-month suspended sentence. That verdict followed a four-month trial. It was the first time in more than 30 years that a former Austrian chancellor had stood trial. 'What came out is what I have always said — namely, that I did not tell untruths to the parliamentary inquiry,' Kurz said in a brief statement to reporters outside the courtroom after Monday's decision. 'I now have a long time in (legal) proceedings behind me, and to be honest I'd like to set out my position in detail, but I ask for your understanding that I'm going home to family and my two children first," Kurz added. Judges on Monday upheld the conviction of Kurz's former chief of staff, Bernhard Bonelli, for making a false statement to the parliamentary inquiry about his own involvement and that of Kurz in the selection of OeBAG supervisory board members. He was given a six-month suspended sentence last year. Kurz said he deeply regrets the decision on Bonelli. Once a rising star among conservatives in Europe, Kurz resigned in 2021 after a separate corruption probe opened and has since left politics. His People's Party still leads the government under current Chancellor Christian Stocker, although it finished second in an election in September. Kurz rose to power with an anti-immigration platform and was only 31 when he became the leader of the People's Party and then chancellor in 2017. He pulled the plug on his first government after a video surfaced that showed the vice chancellor and Freedom Party leader at the time, Heinz-Christian Strache, appearing to offer favors to a purported Russian investor. Kurz returned to power in a new coalition with the environmentalist Greens in early 2020, but resigned in October 2021. The Greens had demanded his replacement after prosecutors announced that he was a target of a second investigation into suspected bribery and breach of trust. Kurz also denied any wrongdoing in that case. There has been periodic speculation about the possibility of Kurz making a political comeback.
Daily Maverick
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Austrian court quashes ex-chancellor Kurz's perjury conviction
An Austrian appeals court said on Monday that it had overturned conservative former chancellor Sebastian Kurz's recent perjury conviction and the resulting eight-month suspended prison sentence. The ruling removes Kurz's only criminal conviction, taking away a serious obstacle to a future political comeback for the 38-year-old, although prosecutors have yet to decide whether to charge him over potential corruption-related offences in a separate investigation that forced him from office in 2021. The court said Kurz 'was acquitted because the objective offence of giving false evidence was not fulfilled'. Kurz denies all wrongdoing. 'I have been confronted with accusations for years. There have been numerous court hearings – a huge amount of confrontation with these accusations. You have all witnessed how much this has been celebrated and that it has now all collapsed,' he said outside the court. The case centred on whether Kurz was merely kept informed of deliberations on the appointment of executives for newly created state holding company OBAG when he was chancellor, or was in fact making the decisions. The appointments were formally his finance minister's responsibility. Kurz testified to a parliamentary commission of inquiry in 2020 that he was 'involved in the sense of informed'. The judge who heard the case at first instance ruled that was not true and Kurz played an active role. 'What has come out is what I have always said, namely that I did not tell any untruths in the committee of inquiry,' Kurz said. Kurz has left the Austrian People's Party (OVP) and quit politics but some individuals within the OVP hope he will return if there is a change of party leadership, even though polling suggests the majority of Austrians do not want him to stage a comeback. Kurz led his party to election victories in 2017 and 2019 by adopting a hard line on immigration similar to that of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which won the last parliamentary election in September. He now works as a consultant and tech entrepreneur and says he is happy in his new career. Having come second in the last election, the OVP leads the current three-party centrist coalition government headed by OVP Chancellor Christian Stocker.
