That was Sebastian Kurz's Appearance After His Acquittal

After his acquittal in the false testimony case, former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) appeared before the media on Tuesday. At the very beginning of the press conference, he stated that he would disappoint everyone expecting a "settlement." Nevertheless, he criticized the "political culture" and the judiciary. He once again ruled out a return to politics.

Immediately after the verdict at the Vienna Palace of Justice, where the Higher Regional Court overturned Kurz's eight-month suspended sentence and acquitted him of the allegations of having given false testimony in the Ibiza inquiry committee, he announced that he would like to comment "in detail." For him, the last four years have been a "very burdensome time," even though he is in a "very privileged" situation, enjoying family support and having the financial means for a legal proceeding. Those who do not have this often break under such a procedure. "It's not so much the offense itself or the threat of punishment, which would not be life-changing, it's much more the incredible effort that is made here. It's the being paraded, it was the twelve days of trial in the large jury courtroom, where otherwise murderers and serious criminals have to answer," Kurz said on Tuesday.

Thus, his procedure was not proportionate, Kurz criticized. "We are talking about thousands of pages, 30 witnesses, twelve days of trial, and almost 10,000 national and international reports." One should not "inflate every report like a hot air balloon," because this "builds pressure," also on the investigators themselves, "that something must come out in the end, otherwise all this effort cannot be justified in the end."

Sebastian Kurz sees "Imbalance"

An "imbalance" has occurred in the political culture, Kurz said. It is no longer about the competition of the best ideas, but "about the next scandal and the next report." This leads "to an impoverishment of the political debate, to an unpleasant climate in politics, and it destroys trust in politics." When asked if Kurz and his team contributed to this situation during his time as a politician, he denied it: "I believe I have always tried to approach it positively and not attack others," he once again proclaimed the "new style" he advocated. "I cannot remember a situation where we attacked others in a derogatory manner," Kurz said, but also added, "We did many things right and some things wrong."

Regardless of his person, one got the impression in recent years that three of the last five finance ministers were corrupt: "Löger, Blümel, Pröll (all ÖVP, note)." But also against Norbert Hofer, Mario Kunasek (both FPÖ), and Christoph Chorherr (Greens), proceedings were conducted for an eternity without anything coming out in the end. Investigations are conducted "too often, too long, and with an excessive intensity," which causes the rule of law and democracy to suffer.

"The Effort is Enormous"

Criticism of the lengthy procedure was expressed on Monday evening in ZiB 2 by the head of the Institute for Economic Law at WU Vienna, Robert Kert: "This is usually processed in a few hours and does not take four years. The effort is enormous. One wonders if it is justified to make such an effort just because the defendant is so prominent." He understood the acquittal.

In contrast, former Supreme Court judge and politician Irmgard Griss (NEOS) expressed surprise in the Ö1-Morning Journal. The second court relied solely on the yes-no question in the parliamentary committee on whether Kurz was involved in the appointment of the Öbag supervisory board. He answered this with yes, and thus correctly. "I don't know, it is certainly something to get used to and an approach that is possible, but there are also other ways to see it," said Griss. She herself might have judged differently as a judge, but cannot say without knowing the entire file. Griss understood the guilty verdict and the six-month suspended sentence for his chief of staff Bernhard Bonelli, as it was about a different question.

No Return Announced

Kurz ruled out a comeback in politics, citing his entrepreneurial activities and his second son, who was born last week. Nevertheless, he will continue to express his opinion in the future and "participate in debates." At the end of the press conference, he also made an "appeal" to those responsible to conduct an "open and courageous" debate, "not because of me and my procedure, but because of everything that has happened in recent years." However, he did not mention any concrete ideas or proposals, even when asked. It is not only a question for the federal government, but there are "many, many who can contribute to the discourse."

Further investigations against Kurz are still ongoing in the ÖVP advertisement affair - since 2021. After these allegations became known (keyword: Beinschab-Tool), Kurz resigned as chancellor in October 2021 and moved to the National Council as club chairman, then completely withdrew from politics in December of the same year. The core allegation here is that surveys were paid for with taxpayers' money from ÖVP-led ministries and placed in media from which Kurz and the ÖVP are said to have benefited. Kurz was convinced that this procedure would also not end with a guilty verdict for him: "There are always more and more allegations, but the result will be like this, it will all collapse in the end."

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.