Ex-Austrian leader Kurz gets 8-month sentence for false statements

Austria's former chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been given an 8-month suspended sentence for making false statements, the Vienna Regional Court ruled on Friday.

The ruling said Kurz had made false statements to a parliamentary committee inquiry.

The court said evidence showed that Kurz had exercised greater influence in the appointment of the supervisory board of the state holding company Öbag than he had admitted before the Ibiza parliamentary committee.

Kurz - chancellor from 2017-19 and 2020-21 - told the committee in 2020 that he had been aware of the events but had not actively intervened.

In the case of the appointment of former Kurz confidant Thomas Schmid as head of Öbag, the judge acquitted the former leader of the charge of making false statements.

The trial was followed with great interest in Austria. The Alpine republic is facing a bumper election year with local and regional elections, the European elections and parliamentary elections, which are expected to take place at the end of September.

The conviction of Kurz, who was popular as chancellor and Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) leader, is likely to provide election campaign ammunition for his political opponents.

"When an ex-chancellor is convicted, it becomes a millstone for the ÖVP in terms of corruption and cronyism," political consultant Thomas Hofer said.

The 37-year-old Kurz, who is now working as an entrepreneur following his resignation and departure from politics at the end of 2021, had always maintained his innocence.

He led a coalition between the ÖVP, a conservative party, and the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (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 surrounding former vice-chancellor and ex-FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache, which came to light in 2019, parliament set up a committee to look into the "alleged venality" of the then government.

The committee was tasked with investigating suspicions of corruption and cronyism during the ÖVP-FPÖ coalition.

At the time of his statement in 2020, Kurz was more popular than ever, in part due to his management of the coronavirus crisis. He had always promised citizens a "new style" without the cronyism that is so widespread in Austria. This is one reason why he told the committee that his influence in the Öbag situation was "informed" but not "involved."

The ex-chancellor is also facing a second trial in the so-called advertising affair, in which Kurz and his team are alleged to have commissioned fake surveys with taxpayers' money.

They are also alleged to have placed adverts in various media in the hope of obtaining favourable coverage. Ten suspects are being investigated on suspicion of bribery, corruption and embezzlement.