The former Austrian vice chancellor and ex-leader of Austria’s right-wing Freedom party has gone on trial for corruption charges at a Vienna courtVIENNA -- The former Austrian vice chancellor and ex-leader of Austria’s right-wing Freedom Party went on trial Tuesday for corruption charges at a Vienna court. Heinz-Christian Strache is accused of trying to change laws in order to favor a private hospital in exchange for donations. Strache’s legal team announced that neither Strache nor his lawyers will give any public statements during the trial, local media reported. Strache was involved in the fall of the previous Austrian government, a coalition of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's conservative Austrian People’s Party and the Freedom Party. Strache, who denied any wrongdoing, was later kicked out of the Freedom Party.

Source: ABC News July 06, 2021 08:48 UTC