Political earthquake – guilty verdict for Kurz: his bitterest hour

“The statement surprises me very much. I find it very unfair and now hope for a second instance.” It is the reaction expected from Sebastian Kurz. The ex-ÖVP chancellor was somewhat subdued, but still combative after the non-final conviction for making false statements statements Ibiza U committee.

Judge: key witness Schmid “credible”
As punishment, he received a suspended sentence of eight months, and his former chief of staff, Bernhard Bonelli, received a suspended sentence of six months. WKStA chief prosecutor Gregor Adamovic had a slight smile on his lips because Radasztics followed the prosecutor’s argument with this hammer verdict. But there was another reason for satisfaction at the WKStA: judge Radasztics ruled key witness candidate Thomas Schmid as ‘credible’.

In short: “My life goes on like yesterday”
However, the judge found it completely unrealistic that Schmid had confided to two Russians during a job interview in the summer of 2023 that he was working with the WKStA and therefore did not always tell the truth. “The fact that Schmid is making such a fuss about this – just a few months after he applied for clemency status – is unworldly.”

The guilty verdict against Kurz specifically concerns his appointment as a member of the supervisory board of the state holding company ÖBAG. Kurz was questioned about his involvement with the U-Commission. “You give the overall impression that you essentially had nothing to do with it,” Judge Michael Radasztics said. However, statements made in the evidence process painted a different picture, according to Radasztics. The commissioners surveyed said the same thing: “but you don’t know what other people have discussed before, so their statements should be viewed with caution.”

Kurz tried to show calm
When asked whether Kurz was merely “informed” or “involved” in the appointment of Thomas Schmid as the sole board member of ÖBAG, he was acquitted. Kurz tried to show calm in the face of the judge’s decision: “This is not life-changing for me. My life will continue tomorrow as it did yesterday.”

Public prosecutor with a clear message
Senior prosecutor Gregor Adamovic opened the closing arguments with a clear message: “Rarely has a case of false testimony been as clear as that of Sebastian Kurz.” Ex-Chancellor Kurz and his former chief of staff Bernhard Bonelli “didn’t just control the message”. The top priority for former Turquoise superstar Kurz was also personnel decisions. According to Adamovic, this fact can be “clearly read from the government’s turquoise blue side letter.”

Senior prosecutor Gregor Adamovic opened the closing arguments with a clear message: “Rarely has a case of false testimony been as clear as that of Sebastian Kurz.” Ex-Chancellor Kurz and his former chief of staff Bernhard Bonelli “didn’t just control the message”. The top priority for former Turquoise superstar Kurz was also personnel decisions. According to Adamovic, this fact can be “clearly read from the government’s turquoise blue side letter.”

The defense’s counterattack disappeared. “Sebastian Kurz did not give false testimony in the investigative committee,” argued Kurz’s lawyer Otto Dietrich. In reality, the WKStA accuses his client of “having his own interpretation of his statement”.

Kurz did not want to destroy his media image
Kurz himself spoke a few minutes before the verdict was announced and confirmed, sometimes in a tearful voice: “I cannot remember every detail. But I went to the University Committee with the intention of not ending up here. For this purpose I went there. I admit I wasn’t perfectly prepared. “

But back to the closing arguments: for the WKStA, Kurz was “never just a receiver of information.” Without Kurz there was no decision. Kurz and his confidants discussed the case and the then Chancellor had the final say, WKStA chief prosecutor Adamovic further argued. “Formally responsible ministers became executors of wills.”

The WKStA identified the image that Kurz had built during the 2017 election campaign as the motive for the false statement. He was considered a politician of a new style; Postenschacher does not fit in there. With the (non-legally binding) guilty verdict, the image of the former turquoise superstar is buried for the time being.