Interview after verdict

Kurz: “I hope there will be justice in the end”

The trial against former chancellor and ex-ÖVP leader Sebastian Kurz came to an end on Friday, and on Saturday he talks to Conny Bischofberger about the verdict.(Bild: Klemens Groh)

15 hours after the historic verdict - an eight-month conditional prison sentence - Conny Bischofberger conducted the first interview with Sebastian Kurz. 

The former Federal Chancellor is combative in the interview. Many people from the judiciary and politics had expressed surprise at the outcome of the trial in the news. However, he still has "so much basic trust in the system" that he believes it will be overturned in the second instance. 

When asked whether the non-appealable conviction would damage his reputation as an entrepreneur, Kurz said that many of his business partners did not understand why it could be a criminal offense in Austria not to testify in sufficient detail before a parliamentary committee of inquiry. Kurz's lawyers have lodged an appeal and the proceedings will now go to the next instance. "I hope that there will be justice in the end," said Kurz. 

You can read Kurz's response to Bischofberger's objection that a reversal or confirmation of the verdict in the second instance will not be possible before the National Council elections in the fall, what he thinks about a political comeback and what he has to say about Thomas Schmid, Vladimir Putin and the support of his friends in the ePaper edition of the "Krone" and here on krone.at from 8 pm.