The parliament in Austria has decided: Ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz loses his immunity.
He is no longer protected from corruption investigations.
Vienna - new excitement about Sebastian Kurz!
The former Austrian Chancellor has lost his protection against corruption investigations.
Parliament unanimously lifted the 35-year-old conservative politician's immunity on Thursday.
Kurz and his ÖVP had supported the move to enable the allegations to be clarified quickly.
Lost immunity - Sebastian Kurz rejects all allegations
The public prosecutor's office for business and corruption is investigating Kurz and some close political comrades on suspicion of infidelity.
His rise to ÖVP boss and chancellor is said to have been supported by surveys that have been embellished and paid for with taxpayers' money.
In addition, there are reports against Kurz for false statements in the parliamentary Ibiza investigation committee, which investigated possible corruption in the environment of the ÖVP and the right-wing FPÖ.
Kurz has denied all allegations.
Sebastian Kurz: Despite resigning as ÖVP chairman in parliament
On October 6, house searches took place in the Federal Chancellery, the ÖVP headquarters and the Ministry of Finance, among other places. Kurz was initially reluctant to resign. A threatened vote of no confidence by the co-ruling Greens and the opposition in parliament prompted him to retire as head of
government
after a few days
. He remained ÖVP chairman and moved to parliament as a parliamentary group leader.
Kurz had previously had a steep career. At 27 he became Foreign Minister and at 31 Chancellor. His first term as head of
government ended in 2019 after corruption allegations surfaced against the coalition partners of the right-wing FPÖ. In the course of coming to terms with the so-called Ibiza scandal, investigators also examined chats from the ÖVP environment, which Kurz finally brought down.
After his resignation, Kurz's salary was cut drastically *.
(dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.