Austria: Former Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache faces new corruption charges
Former Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache is accused of bribery. A businessman allegedly offered him benefits in exchange for being appointed to the board of a public organization.
Former Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache faces charges of bribery as prosecutions against him sparked by a high-profile corruption scandal continue to rise.
A businessman allegedly offered various benefits to Mr. Strache and donated money to the Freedom Party (FPÖ), the prosecutor's office said in a document on Tuesday. In return, the businessman was appointed to the board of directors of a public highway management organization when the leader of the Free Party was deputy chancellor (2017-2019).
According to the Athenian and Macedonian News Agency, if found guilty, both face up to five years in prison.
The new prosecution also concerns an invitation to Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, which, however, Mr. Strache did not accept. The former leader of the Austrian far right has assured the Austrian news agency APA that he will refute the accusations in court.
The former vice chancellor has already been sentenced to 15 months in prison with a suspension for another corruption case in October 2021.
Heinz-Christian Strache, when he was president of the FPÖ, allegedly made a decisive contribution to amending a law for the benefit of a clinically friendly person in exchange for donations to the party. His conviction is not yet final.
An Austrian parliamentary committee considering another case, however, revealed that the businessman donated 10,000 euros before the 2017 elections to an organization affiliated with the FPÖ and another 10,000 after he was appointed to the board.
The investigations and prosecutions against Heinz-Christian Strache are connected to the so-called video of Ibita, which was released in May 2019. In the explosive video, which was secretly recorded, the FPÖ leader discusses the least questioned legality methods of financing the party and exercising political influence.
The video sparked the dissolution of the FPÖ coalition with the right wing of then-Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz and early elections.
