The interrogation was initially scheduled for the whole day. As the ex-chancellor explained to the ORF “ZiB” immediately beforehand, he had handed over the tape recording of a telephone call with ex-ÖBAG boss Thomas Schmid to the prosecution, which is intended to exonerate him. Schmid had heavily incriminated Kurz in a confession to the WKStA.
“I am pleased that I was able to give the WKStA a tape that clearly shows that the allegations that have been made are wrong,” Kurz told ORF: “And I believe that this tape will now quickly have these allegations cleared up.”
Ex-Chancellor optimistic
In a written statement, Kurz emphasized “that 30 witnesses have now testified at the WKStA” and that they would all exonerate him. The statements and the tape record make him “very positive,” says Kurz: “And give a clear picture that I’m not guilty of anything.”
The WKStA did not want to reveal whether further interrogations of the ex-chancellor are planned. When asked, it was only said that no information was allowed to be given about individual steps of the investigation.
Heavy burden by Schmid
The former Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance and ÖBAG boss Thomas Schmid approached the WKStA in the spring with the desire for a leniency program and in his interrogations had accused Kurz and other close confidants in several cases. For example, Kurz knew that his employees were conducting surveys that were supposed to help him win the ÖVP party chairmanship and chancellorship and were being financed by the Ministry of Finance, Schmid said.
The ex-chancellor’s lawyer then gave the authorities a recording of a phone call that “massively” refutes Schmid’s statements. Kurz had the conversation with Schmid after the house searches in the Chancellery in October 2021. In doing so, Kurz asks several times how it came about that he was involved in the survey affair. After the minutes of the conversation were published, Schmid justified his contradictory behavior in this conversation by saying that he had assumed that he would be bugged.
Source: Nachrichten
