Hessenthaler in Ibiza: – “When I saw the video, I was disappointed”

At the start of the event, which lasted just over an hour and a half and was reportedly watched by more than 1,000 viewers via stream, journalism professor Fritz Hausjell, in his capacity as president of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said Austria thanked Hessenthaler for his initiative with the he saved Austria from bad luck through a “combination of courage and intellect”.

However, Hausjell warned that one should not have high hopes that Austria will improve in the next press freedom ranking, due to be published on May 3: “It has gotten worse.” Likewise Hessenthaler himself: “We are not as far from the Orban system as we would like!”

The “Ibiza Detective”, who described his job not as a detective but as a security adviser, spoke to the journalist Jean Peters of the donation-funded research center “Correctiv” and also answered questions from the audience. It was also about the background and circumstances of the video recorded in 2017, in which the then FPÖ boss and vice-chancellor and the then FPÖ club president talked to an alleged oligarch niece in a villa in Ibiza and then led to resign and new elections.

“Didn’t Go As Planned”
“When I saw the video, I was disappointed,” Hessenthaler said, because those compromising and criminal statements that had been made several times over the course of the hour-long evening would not have been on the video. “Speaking foolishly is not punishable,” his lawyer would have ruled the material. “In the end, we didn’t make it as planned.”

But the planning was nowhere near as professional as often claimed. There was a lot of improvisation. He regretted that the planning phase was not also captured on video. “I think that would have been the better video.” This statement also caused one of the few laughs of the evening, just like Peter’s rebuke that small warning signs with “Watch video!” cameras, the guests should therefore have assumed that they had been filmed. Hessenthaler was once again convinced that the video was made legally – not least because Spanish law allows it. “I very much doubt that a trial against me would have led to a conviction.”

Hessenthaler was also convicted not for the “Ibiza video”, but for cocaine trafficking and for accepting, passing on or possessing false or forged specially protected documents and forgery of documents – protested by Viennese FPÖ club president Maximilian Krauss two days ago protest against the appearance of the “convicted criminal Hessenthaler”. The arrest in December 2020 in Berlin, the pre-trial detention and the trial in St. Pölten in March 2022, in which Hessenthaler was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, formed the second theme of the evening.

Released from prison two weeks ago
Hessenthaler, who has been free in ankle cuffs since March and was released early on April 7, according to “Correctiv,” has repeatedly denied the crimes he is accused of and also argued that evening that there was no material evidence and gave only highly questionable testimony against him. He was not allowed to say who he believed were the masterminds of this plot aimed at taking him to prison because he was on parole and had to avoid statements that could be construed as defamation or libel.

On the other hand, he strongly criticized the fact that there was no second instance in Austria that would carry out a re-assessment and review of the evidence of a verdict of a lay judge and that the Supreme Court only rejected the formalities in its annulment appeal. His already cynical attitude towards the Austrian judiciary is reinforced by his personal experiences: “The Austrian investigative authorities act in a way that in reality seriously undermines the rule of law.”

Long applause from the audience
Hessenthaler was long applauded by the audience and honored for his achievements in Austrian political hygiene. “I paid a high price for what they call this achievement,” he replied. So did acquaintances and friends he had involved, without thinking about the consequences this could have for them. “It’s something that weighs on my conscience.” However, he will not be deterred from speaking out in the future.

The following opportunities will present themselves very soon. On May 4, an evening will take place in the Red Bar with the initiative “Schone Handen”. The planned discussion will be about the consequences of the Ibiza video, but also about what happened to the anti-corruption referendum that started last year. Finally, on May 17, Hessenthaler will discuss the history of the video and its consequences “with representatives of politics, the media and the judiciary” under the banner “The Ibiza Anniversary – A Look Across the Borders”.