Sebastian Kurz went public with it himself. Even before the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office in Vienna (WKStA) had officially announced the charges against him, Kurz announced on Friday morning via X, formerly Twitter, that he had been informed by journalists about an impending criminal complaint. Former Austrian Chancellor Kurz emphasized: “The accusations are false and we look forward to the truth finally coming to light and the accusations also proving to be unfounded in court.” Then he added with a PS: It was “remarkable and legally not unobjectionable” that “the media are once again informed about the status of the proceedings before those affected”.
A little over two years ago, the public prosecutor’s office began investigating Kurz, who has now submitted a 100-page criminal complaint. The former Austrian Chancellor will have to answer in court. He faces up to three years in prison because of a possible false testimony before the parliamentary committee of inquiry.
Ex-FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache is also invited as a witness
His former head of cabinet Bernhard Bonelli and his former deputy as head of the conservative ÖVP, the former casinos manager Bettina Glatz-Kremsner, are also accused of making false statements. Bonelli is also said to have given false testimony as a witness in the U-Committee, and Glatz-Kremsner also during an interrogation.
For the time being, three days of hearings – from October 18th – are scheduled for the main hearing before the Criminal Court in Vienna. The list of witnesses invited is prominent: the former Vice-Chancellor and FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache, who fell over the Ibiza affair, is said to testify. Also invited are the former finance ministers Hartwig Löger and Gernot Blümel, both of whom are party friends of Kurz. Thomas Schmid’s statements are awaited with great excitement. Schmid’s chat messages, which the investigators reconstructed, gave an insight into how the “System Kurz” worked: how Kurz got to the top of the ÖVP with the help of souped-up polls and compliant media. Schmid is trying to obtain the status of a key witness in order to get a lighter sentence should he – as expected – also be charged. In recent months, he has heavily burdened his former boss with his statements to investigators.
The accused denies the allegations
The WKStA now accuses Kurz of making false statements on June 24, 2020 when he was questioned as a person providing information in the parliamentary Ibiza U Committee. This committee was set up to deal with possible grievances after Southgerman newspaper and Mirror released the Ibiza video. Among other things, the deputies wanted to know whether and, if so, how the then chancellor had gotten involved in the appointment of Thomas Schmid as head of the Öbag state holding company. Öbag manages the Republic of Austria’s holdings in a number of listed companies.
The then secretary-general in the Ministry of Finance is said to have worked on the corresponding law for the new state holding company – and on the tendering process and on the selection of the members of the supervisory board, who then appointed him head. The WKStA sees contradictions between Kurz’s statements and chat messages from and to Thomas Schmid.
After the investigation became known, Kurz said that the investigative committee “put the word in his mouth” and asked leading questions. Even in his statements before a detention and legal protection judge in the course of the investigation, Kurz insisted that he did not testify incorrectly.
Further investigations against Kurz are still ongoing. According to experts, the allegations in this case are much more sensitive. Kurz and his close team are accused of allegedly illegal deals with the tabloid media Kronenzeitung, Today and Austria to have contributed. When the allegations of corruption became public in October 2021, the Green coalition partner forced Kurz to resign as chancellor. Two months later he retired from politics and is now an entrepreneur. So he started an IT security company with Shalev Hulio, the founder of the Israeli NSO Group. The company makes the infamous Pegasus cell phone monitoring software.