A court in Vienna has overturned the conviction of former vice chancellor and former FPÖ party leader Heinz-Christian Strache. He was sentenced last year to a 15-month suspended prison sentence for taking bribes for his party.
The court states that the process must be redone because possible exculpatory chat messages had not been sufficiently taken into account earlier, Austrian media report. A lower court found it proven that Strache had taken 12,000 euros from a friend. In return, he would change laws so that that friend’s private clinic would qualify for government aid. Strache pleaded his innocence.
The politician was leader of the FPÖ from 2005 to 2019 and was also vice chancellor in the coalition government for the last two years. He became embroiled in scandals in 2019, of which Ibizagate is the best known. That scandal revolves around a video in which Strache talks to a woman in Ibiza posing as close relatives of a Russian oligarch. He seemed willing to award government projects in exchange for support during election campaigns.