False testimony trial against Kurz: The first witness appears

2023-11-17 04:04:00

After a three-week break, the trial against ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (VP) continues today at the Vienna Criminal Regional Court. Arnold Schiefer is the first witness in the trial for false statements in the Ibiza investigative committee against Kurz and his ex-cabinet chief Bernhard Bonelli.

Actually, the Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) and the defense lawyers first wanted to see the former ÖBAG sole director Thomas Schmid on the witness stand. Due to a longer stay abroad, Schmid has postponed his arrival and has now made a binding commitment to the court on December 11th.

Today the focus will be on a “sideletter” that the former ÖBB CFO Schiefer and Schmid are said to have negotiated in 2018. This is said to have set out a personnel package for filling the supervisory board of the state holding company ÖBAG.

Schiefer is said to have spoken for the Freedom Party, Schmid for the ÖVP. In the U-Committee, Kurz was presented with a corresponding chat message from ex-Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache (FP) to the former Finance Minister Hartwig Löger (VP). The ex-Chancellor explained at the time that he didn’t know “what they had agreed to.”

An SP complaint against Schiefer, also for making false statements in the U-Committee, also led to investigations, but these were discontinued by the WKStA, which was already criticized at the start of the trial in the counter statement by Kurz’s lawyer as unequal treatment by the prosecution.

After Schmid’s questioning on December 11th, the former VP Finance Ministers Gernot Blümel (December 15th) and Löger (December 18th) have been invited to the last two days of negotiations before Christmas. Given the longer list of witnesses, especially from the WKStA, further appointments are expected in the new year.

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