He would do it again, said the producer of the “Ibiza video”, Julian Hessenthaler, today in ZIB2 on the occasion of the 4th anniversary of the video’s publication. But there were no financial interests behind it. It was a friendship service for a lawyer. In the ZIB2, Hessenthaler named a sum of 200,000 to 300,000 euros as the costs incurred, which the lawyer M. had paid. Hessenthaler: “There were no clients.”
Austria has a lax approach to preliminary acts of corruption. “I was disappointed because I had different expectations of myself,” says Hessenthaler. Two years ago, the “Zeit” reported nine more videos with the ex-FPÖ politician Johann Gudenus.
Julian Hessenthaler on the “Ibiza Video”
Four years ago, the “Ibiza video” from a rented villa changed Austrian politics. The mastermind behind the video, Julian Hessenthaler, talks about how the video came about in the ZIB2 interview.
“Authorities do not know all videos”
Hessenthaler: “The authorities do not know all the videos.” Nobody asked him about it. He was “not inclined” to cooperate with the investigative authorities. In any case, these videos are not criminally relevant.
Hessenthaler has been free since mid-March. He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in March 2022 for cocaine trafficking and forgery. He denies these allegations.
