2023-08-18 08:52:20
Ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) assumes that he will be charged with making false statements in the parliamentary committee of inquiry. Several media, including the APA, learned on Friday that the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic and Corruption (WKStA) will soon be communicating its decision. “It is not surprising for us that the WKStA decided to file a criminal complaint despite 30 exculpatory testimonies,” Kurz wrote on Twitter (X).
Only two days earlier, the WKStA had received a decree from the Ministry of Justice with the decision on how to proceed. The file had last been in the responsible section of the Ministry of Justice for several months. The instruction council, which advises the minister, had no fundamental objections to the WKStA’s plan in June, but still had legal questions. The file then went back to the WKStA and the senior public prosecutor’s office and back to the ministry in mid-July. It was there that the decision was finally made as to whether Kurz would be charged or whether the proceedings would be discontinued.
The core of the allegations of false statements is the question of how intensively the ex-ÖVP boss under Turquoise Blue was involved in the reform of the state holding company ÖBIB to ÖBAG. During his survey in the Ibiza U Committee in June 2020, Kurz had, as is well known, downplayed his role in the selection of the supervisory board and in the appointment of the controversial ex-ÖBAG boss Thomas Schmid – and accordingly spoke of normal processes. However, the WKStA saw possible false statements in view of the chat history.
Kurz continued to deny any guilt. He also wrote on Twitter (X) on Friday: “The allegations are false and we look forward to it when the truth finally comes to light and the allegations turn out to be unfounded in court.” He had been informed by several journalists regarding an impending indictment. There is no official notification from the WKStA yet.
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