A court in Vienna on Monday acquitted former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of making false statements during a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his administration, overturning a previous ruling that had handed him a suspended prison sentence.
According to the Austria Press Agency, judges at Vienna’s upper state court dismissed Kurz’s conviction after a brief appeal hearing.
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The case focused on Kurz’s testimony before a parliamentary inquiry that examined the coalition government he led from 2017 until 2019. During that period, his conservative Austrian People’s Party governed in partnership with the far-right Freedom Party. The coalition ultimately collapsed in 2019.
Prosecutors had accused the 38-year-old of providing false testimony in June 2020 about his involvement in establishing the state holding company OeBAG and the appointment of his former confidant Thomas Schmid as its head. OeBAG is responsible for managing the government's stakes in various companies.
In February 2024, Kurz was convicted of making false statements regarding the appointment of OeBAG’s supervisory board members, although he was cleared of providing misleading information about Schmid’s appointment. He was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended.
That conviction followed a four-month trial and marked the first time in over three decades that a former Austrian chancellor had faced trial.
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Reacting to Monday’s acquittal, Kurz told reporters outside the courtroom, “What came out is what I have always said — namely, that I did not tell untruths to the parliamentary inquiry.” He added, “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.”
However, the court upheld the conviction of Kurz’s former chief of staff, Bernhard Bonelli, who was found guilty of making a false statement to the same inquiry concerning his and Kurz’s roles in selecting OeBAG supervisory board members. Bonelli received a six-month suspended sentence in 2024. Kurz expressed deep regret over the decision on Bonelli.
Once viewed as a rising star among Europe’s conservatives, Kurz resigned in 2021 following a separate corruption investigation and has since withdrawn from politics. His Austrian People’s Party remains in power under Chancellor Christian Stocker, although the party placed second in the September elections.
Kurz, who rose to prominence on an anti-immigration platform, became the People’s Party leader and then chancellor at just 31 years old in 2017. He ended his first government in 2019 after a video scandal involving then–Vice Chancellor and Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache, who appeared to offer political favors to a supposed Russian investor.
Kurz returned as chancellor in early 2020 in a new coalition with the Greens but stepped down in October 2021. His resignation followed pressure from the Greens after prosecutors named him a target in a second probe involving suspected bribery and breach of trust — allegations that Kurz has consistently denied.
Speculation has occasionally surfaced about the potential for a political comeback by Kurz.