“Ibiza” mastermind Hessenthaler gets a big stage in Vienna

The mastermind of the Ibiza video sees himself as a persecuted whistleblower. Released from prison for cocaine trafficking, he now appears as a “political actor”.

NRecently, the “Ibiza detective” Julian Hessenthaler is on everyone’s lips again in Vienna. He gives interviews in which he presents himself as a victim of justice. On Thursday, even one of the most renowned Viennese stages will be cleared for him. The Volkstheater organizes an evening with him and the online platform “Correctiv” under the title “One has to pay”. Hessenthaler is available because he was released from prison a few weeks ago. He had served two and a half years of a three and a half year sentence for cocaine trafficking.

Volkstheater director Kay Voges explained in advance that Hessenthaler was “one of the most exciting and controversial personalities in recent Austrian history”, namely either an “intrepid, persecuted whistleblower like Edward Snowden” or an “enterprising scumbag”. Undisputed, according to the theater director, are Hessenthaler’s merits for Austria’s democracy, because he drew public attention to corruption in politics and the media. The focus is certainly true, the “undisputed” not so much. The Viennese FPÖ, for example, complained that it was a “special class scandal that a convicted drug dealer like Julian Hessenthaler” was now given a platform through the theater, which received millions in public funding.