The Vienna Regional Criminal Court issued a ruling in the case involving former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, granting him eight months of probation on a perjury conviction. A local outlet, Courier, reported the outcome.
During the sentencing, judge Michael Radastic confirmed that Kurz had been found guilty of lying to a parliamentary committee.
In delivering the verdict, the judge noted that the defense arguments could not justify an acquittal because an incomplete statement does not automatically amount to false testimony.
“Questions are sometimes provocative, vague and frequently asked with intensity. At parliamentary hearings, confrontations can erupt. Yet this is a false statement, just as it would be in court,” Radastic stated.
At the same time, Kurz was cleared of the charge that he had appointed his confidant, Thomas Schmid, to the board of directors of the state investment firm OeBAG.
Also discussed at the meeting was the status of Bernhard Bonelli, Kurzs longtime cabinet head. He received a six-month probation sentence after being found guilty of making false statements.
Kurz stepped down as chancellor in late 2021 amid an anti-corruption investigation and signaled his final withdrawal from politics later that year.
Previously, Kurz held a position in an organization established by a member of the Trump family by marriage.