Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has lost his legal immunity, which protected him from prosecution as a parliamentarian. The parliament in Vienna has unanimously approved the removal of that status: Kurz himself and his party members of the Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) also voted in favour.
This means that the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Austria can continue the criminal investigation into the former Chancellor. The public prosecutor wants to prosecute 35-year-old Kurz for, among other things, corruption. He allegedly used public money in 2016 to manipulate polls in his favor. He then took charge of the conservative ÖVP and became Chancellor.
Shortly after it became known that he was a suspect, in early October, retired Kurz. He still leads his party in parliament. Therefore, he was legally inviolable. Kurz had already indicated that he would agree to the request from justice to waive that immunity, in his own words, because then he can quickly prove his innocence.
Ibiza-business
An investigation is also underway into a possible misstatement by Kurz in a case known as the Ibiza affair. That case, from 2019, revolves around a corruption scandal involving the right-wing populist party FPÖ, which then formed a coalition with the ÖVP.
Kurz allegedly lied to the parliamentary committee investigating the corruption case. He is alleged to have made a false statement about the appointment of one of his confidants as chief executive of an Austrian state-owned company.
Kurz himself says he did nothing wrong in either case. “And that’s why I’m hoping for a quick trial, a quick procedure, a quick decision, and the waiver of immunity is the basis for that. And that’s why I’m glad this is happening these days,” he said ahead of the decision.
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