Appeal announced

Kurz verdict: WKStA does not register an appeal

The former Federal Chancellor was sentenced on Friday to a conditional prison sentence of eight months for making false statements in the Ibiza committee of inquiry.

(Bild: Reuters)

The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) has not filed an appeal against the verdict against Sebastian Kurz. The former Federal Chancellor was sentenced on Friday to a conditional prison sentence of eight months for making false statements to the Ibiza Investigation Committee. An appeal has already been announced.

Kurz was convicted on one of the original three charges in the first instance. This concerned his statements on the appointment of supervisory board members in the state holding company ÖBAG. According to Michael Radasztics, the judge, the ex-chancellor had given the impression that he had essentially had nothing to do with this. However, witness statements in the evidentiary proceedings contradicted this.

Kurz, on the other hand, was acquitted in a similar case concerning the appointment of Thomas Schmid to the Management Board. The court saw no contradictions here. Nor was there any contradiction regarding an agreement between Schmid and Arnold Schiefer, the former Freedom Party liaison officer in the coalition negotiations between the ÖVP and FPÖ. The sentencing of Kurz's former head of cabinet, Bernhard Bonelli, to six months' imprisonment also related solely to the supervisory board appointments.

No legal remedy from WKStA - appeal lodged
The Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that all felonies and misdemeanors punishable by more than one and no more than five years' imprisonment (including false evidence) are decided by a single judge. Appeals on the grounds of nullity, guilt and punishment then go to the higher Higher Regional Court (OLG) - in this case a three-judge panel at the OLG Vienna.

The WKStA did not take such a step, said a spokesperson for the prosecution. Kurz's defense lawyer Otto Dietrich and Bonelli's defense lawyer Werner Suppan, on the other hand, announced at the end of the trial that they would file an appeal on the grounds of nullity of guilt and punishment. In several interviews, the former chancellor described the verdict against him as unfair.