Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has won an appeal against a conviction for giving false testimony before a parliamentary committee.
The court's decision overturns last year's ruling and Kurz's eight-month suspended prison sentence.
Once considered a marvel of Europe's conservatives, the 38-year-old resigned as chancellor in 2021 and left politics amid a series of allegations.
Monday's acquittal removes a key obstacle to a possible political comeback, but he still faces investigations into separate corruption allegations.
Last year, Kurz was found guilty of perjury before a parliamentary committee.
The case against him focused on allegations that he had been involved in the selection of executives at a newly created state-owned company when he was chancellor, rather than simply being kept informed.
Kurz told a parliamentary inquiry in 2020 that he was “involved in the feeling of being informed.” But the first-instance judge deemed that statement false and ruled that Kurz had played a more active role.
However, in his appeal, Kurz argued that the judge who had sentenced him was biased.
The three-judge appeals panel ruled in his favor on Monday, stating in their decision that Kurz "was acquitted because the objective act of giving false testimony was not fulfilled."
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse on Monday, Kurz said the years of accusations against him had "now all collapsed."
"There have been numerous court hearings – a huge amount of confrontations with these charges. You have all witnessed how much this was celebrated and now everything has collapsed," he said.
He has also denied any wrongdoing in relation to the corruption allegations for which he is being investigated.
Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to charge him on charges that he used public money to pay for favorable media coverage and to fund polls that exaggerated support for him.
Kurz has not yet publicly expressed his intention to return to politics.
Since resigning in 2021, he has been involved in several business ventures, including the high-profile Dream cybersecurity company, which he co-founded in 2023 with partners including the former head of Israeli firm NSO, which developed the controversial Pegasus spyware product.
Kurz previously led the conservative Austrian People's Party, leading the party to victories in 2017 and 2019 due to a tough stance on immigration.
The People's Party is still in power in Austria, having managed to form a three-party coalition with the Social Democrats and a liberal party after last September's elections.
However, this vote was won by the far-right Freedom Party, which exploited voters' frustrations over the economy and migration. Despite winning parliamentary elections for the first time, they failed to form a government.
(AA/BalkanWeb)
