Former Austrian leader Kurz charged with giving false evidence to a corruption inquiry

By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Prosecutors say Austria’s former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been charged with making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his first government, which collapsed in a scandal in 2019. An indictment against Kurz, his former chief of staff and a third person was filed at the state court in Vienna. The court said Friday taht Kurz will go on trial on Oct. 18. The charges result from an investigation that was launched in 2021, when Kurz was still chancellor. It centers on his testimony to a parliamentary probe that focused on alleged corruption in his former coalition with the far-right Freedom Party.