Former Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurtz won a lawsuit against the conviction of giving false testimony to a parliamentary committee.
The court’s ruling overcame last year’s sentence and the eight-month suspended prison sentence.
Welcoming the wonders of European conservatives, the 38-year-old resigned as prime minister in 2021 and left politics amid a string of allegations.
Monday’s acquittal removes a significant obstacle to a potential political comeback, but he is still facing an investigation into separate corruption allegations.
Last year, Kurz was found guilty of perjury for falsely testifying before a parliamentary committee.
The lawsuit against him was not merely informed, centering on allegations that he was involved in the selection of executives of the newly created state holding company when he was prime minister.
Kurz said in a 2020 parliamentary investigation he was “involved in the sense that he was informed.” However, the first judge deemed the declaration a falsehood and ruled that Kurz had a more active role.
However, on his appeal, Cultz argued that the judge convicted him was biased.
The three judges’ appeal bench ruled his support on Monday, reading in their ruling that “Kurz was acquitted because the objective crime of giving false evidence was not met.”
Speaking to reporters outside the court on Monday, Cultz said the year that the charges against him “all have now collapsed.”
“There have been a lot of court hearings – a massive conflict with these accusations. You’ve all seen how much this is celebrated and now it’s all falling apart,” he said.
He also denied any misconduct over the corruption allegations he is being investigated.
Prosecutors have not yet decided whether he will use public funds to pay favorable media coverage to charge him for allegations that he will fund a poll that exaggerates his support.
Kurz has yet to publicly express his intention to return to politics.
Since ending in 2021, he has been involved in several business ventures, including the famous Dream Cybrewer Security Company, which he co-founded in 2023 with a partner, including former boss of an Israeli NSO company that developed the controversial Pegasus spyware product.
Kurtz previously led the conservative Austrian People’s Party, leading the party to victory in 2017 and 2019 with a hard-hitting immigrant stance.
Austria is still in charge in Austria after forming a three-party coalition with the Social Democrats and the Liberals after the election last August.
But the vote was won by the far-right Liberal Party, who robbed voters of their dissatisfaction over the economy and migration. Despite putting the parliamentary elections on top for the first time, they failed to form a government.
