Austrian ex-far-right leader Strache guilty of corruption

former

The downfall of Heinz-Christian Strache, who was head of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, began with a video sting on the holiday island of Ibiza. Two years on, a court in Vienna has found him guilty of corruption, giving him a 15-month suspended jail sentence. He was vice-chancellor when the scandal brought down Sebastian Kurz’s coalition government. The video that emerged hinted at potentially illegal donations to his far-right FPÖ. Strache, now 52, was seen promising public contracts to a woman posing as a Russian oligarch’s niece in exchange for electoral support. Although he denied wrongdoing, the revelations paved the way for a series of corruption investigations. He was accused of helping to change a law so a friend and donor to his party could secure public funding for his private health clinic.(BBC)…[+]