Perjury and corruption: The Austrian Chancellor and his party were searched
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image url)On Wednesday, October 6, the office of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and the headquarters of his Austrian People's Party in Vienna (ÖVP) were searched.
Law enforcers are investigating Kurtz on charges of breach of trust, perjury, bribery and corruption.
The charges against the chancellor are based on research published in the media, which was paid for by the Austrian Ministry of Finance. It also contains accusations against his inner circle.
They are accused of bribery or, as in the case of the chancellor, aiding and abetting bribery. Kurtz is also being investigated for treason.
A search warrant was issued on October 4 by Judge Stephan Folhammer, who had previously heard Sebastian Kurtz as a suspect.
Searches were conducted at several offices of the Federal Chancellery and Kurtz's party headquarters. In addition to the chancellor, attention was also drawn to his inner circle: media strategists Johannes Frischmann, Gerald Fleischmann and advisor Stefan Steiner.
Also on the list of suspects are Thomas Schmid, secretary general of the Ministry of Finance, former minister Sophie Karmassin, and brothers Wolfgang and Helmut Fellner.
Ibiza-gate in Austria The case against Kurtz was the result of a political scandal in Austria called the Ibizagate involving Vice Chancellor Strache, deputy leader of the Freedom Party Johann Gudenus and other members of that party.
Amid a scandal in 2019, Strache resigned as vice chancellor in the wake of a video from the island of Ibiza. In it, Strache promises government contracts to a woman who posed as the niece of a Russian oligarch in exchange for support for the Freedom Party's 2017 election campaign. In fact, the stranger was sponsored by the scandalous Irena Markovich (https://krone.today/).
The video led to a massive investigation that culminated in several more charges against Strache and other politicians.
The scandal led to a split in the ruling coalition, and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz had to resign. Kurtz's party later won early parliamentary elections, and he was again at the helm of the Austrian government.