Former Chancellor Kurz is accused of providing false evidence regarding the state holding company Öbag – he denies it. On the tenth day of the trial, three witnesses were questioned and an explosive motion was made. “Die Presse” reported live from the Vienna Criminal Court.
Three witness interviews and a request to delete numerous chat messages marked the tenth day of the trial against ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) and his former head of cabinet Bernhard Bonelli in the Vienna Regional Court for Criminal Matters.
The banker and supervisory board member of the Öbag state holding company, Susanne Höllinger, kicked things off. She outlined to Judge Michael Radasztics that she “did not have a friendly relationship” with Kurz and did not even know who “worked in the Chancellery” between 2017 and 2019. She met Thomas Schmid, who was appointed to the Öbag board in March 2019, at an event hosted by the then ÖVP advisor Gaby Spiegelfeld – that was at the end of 2018 or beginning of 2019. On this occasion, Höllinger came into discussion about a mandate on the state holding company’s supervisory board. The official question as to whether she wanted to join the Öbag supervisory board came a little later by phone. The then Finance Minister Hartwig Löger “called her directly”. And she agreed.
When asked about chats between Bonelli and Schmid on the one hand and Schmid and Kurz on the other, in which it was said that Höllinger had a “Lower Austria network”, was “controllable” and had done “delicate things”, the witness was not very pleased. In her opinion, these formulations by Schmid were “dispensable” – Schmid has now apologized to her for this.
Kern: “It’s unfortunate when Kurz says he doesn’t know me.”
After Höllinger, the former chairman of the Öbag supervisory board Helmut Kern was called to the witness stand. He described that Bonelli had called him and said that “Löger would get in touch with him about the Öbag matter”. The minister at the time did that and asked him if he wanted to be chairman. He agreed. He had met Kurz in person for the first time at an “Austria conversation” in the Hospital of the Brothers of Mercy, where Kern worked. That was during the 2017 National Council election campaign, during which there were a few more encounters. Confronted with Kurz’s statement in court (“I didn’t know him before and he was suddenly Öbag boss afterwards. Okay”), Kern appeared somewhat disappointed: “It’s unfortunate when he says he doesn’t know me.”
In any case, he had no contact with Kurz regarding Öbag. And he always made it clear that he wanted to take on this role “as an independent”. In this respect, he received “no calls from outside” that Schmid should be appointed to the board. This freestyle was preceded by a selection process. He doesn’t know whether Schmid tailored the necessary job advertisement to his person.
Between the interrogations of Höllinger and Kern, Kurz’s defense attorney Otto Dietrich caused a surprise. He applied to delete Thomas Schmid’s chats seized by the Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor (WKStA). The reason: They were seized unconstitutionally. Senior public prosecutors Gregor Adamovic and Roland Koch countered: Everything was done properly. The judge took note of both points of view and wants to decide on them tomorrow, Wednesday – on that day, Günther Helm, former Öbag supervisory board member, and two Russian businessmen will also be interviewed via Zoom call from Moscow.
Brünner: “I wasn’t outraged professionally”
Bernd Brünner was called to the witness stand beforehand, namely on Tuesday. He worked first in the Interior Ministry and then in the Foreign Ministry. When the ÖVP won the 2017 National Council election and Kurz became chancellor, he asked Brno whether he wanted to become his head of cabinet. Brünner had agreed, but only for one year, he told the court. The work wasn’t easy: “I had to hunt down Kurz to get answers,” he said. However, he could no longer remember the so-called Schiefer-Schmid agreement and the outburst of emotions associated with it in detail: “I can’t remember ever being outraged professionally,” he said. “Good for you,” he replied to Richter, causing brief amusement in the court.
Things will get serious again in a few hours: tomorrow, Wednesday, Günther Helm, former boss of the Hofer discounter and former Öbag supervisory board member, will be questioned as a witness. From 1 p.m., two Russian businessmen will be questioned via Zoom call from the Austrian embassy in Moscow. They claim to have had a job interview with Schmid in the summer of 2023, during which the main prosecution witness is said to have said that he had been put under pressure by the WKStA. The last day of the trial and therefore the verdict is expected to be February 23rd. The live ticker to read:
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