General
Former Austrian Chancellor Cleared of Perjury, but Legal Woes Remain
Sebastian Kurz, who became Austria’s youngest chancellor when he took office in December 2017 at 31, led two troubled governments.
Sebastian Kurz, a former chancellor of Austria, was acquitted Monday of charges that he lied to a parliamentary inquiry, clearing his name in a legal matter that has tarnished his reputation since before he resigned in 2021.
A court in Vienna overturned an earlier ruling that found he had lied about the extent to which he was involved with installing an ally to agovernment panel while he was chancellor. The ruling Monday overturned an eight-month suspended sentence handed down by a lower court last year.
“The objective elements of false testimony were not met,” said Judge Werner Röggla, who led the three-judge panel.
