Even if found guilty

Trial finale: This is why Kurz need not fear imprisonment

The statistics show that even if convicted, former Chancellor Kurz is likely to escape a prison sentence.(Bild: APA/EVA MANHART)

Next Friday, the trial against former chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) for giving false testimony will reach its final stage. A look at the statistics shows that even in the event of a guilty verdict, an unconditional prison sentence is very unlikely.

In general, the number of trials for false testimony under Section 288 of the Criminal Code is declining - even if the opposite impression is often conveyed in the course of reporting on various charges and proceedings. Although a good three quarters of proceedings end in guilty verdicts, unconditional imprisonment is rare. Offenders with no previous convictions usually get off with conditional imprisonment or fines.

Consistently high conviction rate
In 2013, there were still 1480 trials for giving false evidence, as data from the Ministry of Justice shows (see chart below). This number has slowly but almost steadily decreased over the years to 1058 in 2023. The conviction rate has remained constant over the years - between three quarters and four fifths of the trials resulted in a conviction, with the remainder ending in an acquittal.

Conditional prison sentences most common
In 2023, there were 261 acquittals and 797 convictions in proceedings for giving false evidence, according to data from Verfahrensautomation Justiz. Conditional prison sentences were imposed by far the most frequently in guilty verdicts (433 proceedings), followed by unconditional fines (97) and unconditional prison sentences in as many as 95 proceedings.

Prison is very rare for those with a clean record
However, it is almost exclusively offenders with a criminal record who actually have to go to prison. Those who, like Kurz, have had no criminal record to date, generally get off with milder sanctions even in the event of a conviction, as data from Statistics Austria shows. In the ten years from 2013 to 2022, only three previously blameless offenders were sentenced to unconditional prison sentences.

By comparison, offenders with previous convictions were sentenced to unconditional imprisonment for false testimony in 415 cases during the same period. The vast majority of guilty verdicts against blameless offenders therefore end with conditional prison sentences or fines.