Austria's Former Chancellor Kurz Acquitted in Appeal Trial

The Vienna Court of Appeal has acquitted former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of perjury. A lower court had previously sentenced the conservative ÖVP politician to eight months of conditional imprisonment last year for allegedly giving false testimony in a corruption investigation. Kurz denied any wrongdoing and appealed the decision.

The case revolved around statements Kurz made in a 2020 parliamentary inquiry related to the Ibiza affair, a scandal involving government contracts awarded to a Russian oligarch in exchange for financial support to the far-right FPÖ party, then a coalition partner in Kurz's government.

Kurz expressed relief and announced he would issue a detailed response soon. DPA news agency called this a 'stage victory' in Kurz's legal battles, as he still faces an ongoing corruption investigation regarding alleged misuse of public funds for election research and newspaper supplements to benefit his party.