Viennese trials

The FPÖ is brought before the Festival Court

Manfred Tisal, long-time EU builder of the Villach Carnival (pictured with ex-FPÖ leader Strache) sits on the FPÖ side in the Festwochen courtroom.

(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

As part of the "Vienna Trials", the new artistic director Milo Rau brings the FPÖ before the Festival Court. The charge is: "Attacks on democracy!" The Kickl party takes a relaxed view of the whole theater, but is not sending any official representatives to the stage of the Vienna Odeon, where the trial will take place next weekend. 

If the director of the Vienna Festival, Milo Rau, has his way, the "Vienna Trials" will make a pendulum movement: "First in the middle, then to the right and finally to the left." While the docu-theater format kicked off with a discussion of the federal government's coronavirus measures, the coming weekend (7 to 9 June) will focus on "attacks on democracy", which are suspected to be mainly on the side of the FPÖ. In the end, the Vienna Festival will have to answer for itself.

Festival director Milo Rau invites you to the trial

(Bild: Karl Schöndorfer TOPPRESS)

"The format is absolutely open-ended", assured Rau, who was very satisfied with the first days of the trial at the Odeon, at a press conference on Tuesday in the Folklore Museum, which has been temporarily converted into the "House of the Republic". Today, however, it is more difficult to bring people of different attitudes together than in previous "trials" organized by him: "Reconciliation is seen as betrayal." Accordingly, dramaturge Robert Misik reported on the many, many conversations that were necessary to bring the list of witnesses together.

Former AfD leader Frauke Petry

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

Prominent commitments have been made for the presidency and the defense. Barbara Helige, the former president of the Austrian Association of Judges, is acting as chairwoman. "I was a judge in trials for almost 40 years, just as they are now being stylized at the weekend. The difference is not that great," she said. "I have always appreciated the atmosphere in a courtroom because people have to listen to each other. What I also appreciate is the gain in knowledge: I've learned a lot from my trials." Helige disclosed her fee: She receives a flat fee of 3,000 euros for preparation and the three trial days.

"The fees are in a rather ridiculous, symbolic range," said Rau. You can't pay "lawyers' fees". Frauke Petry's fee is likely to be in a similar range. The former AfD chairwoman is taking on the defense. As on the first court weekend, lawyer Alfred Noll is acting as prosecutor.

The maker of the Ibiza video Julian Hessenthaler appears as a witness before the Festwochen court

(Bild: TOBIAS STEINMAURER / APA / picturedesk.com)

One of the witnesses to be theatrically cross-examined is security consultant Julian Hessenthaler, whose "Ibiza video" shook the Republic. "I found the approach interesting and valuable, presenting different positions and discussing them with each other," he said. He was hoping for a new experience. At the press conference, he declined to comment on his expectations: "I am a witness, so I have no hope and no ambition."

Surprisingly, Ariel Muzicant will also be on the witness stand alongside former FPÖ Defense Minister Friedhelm Frischenschlager, journalists Hans-Henning Scharsach and Hans Rauscher and former BVT Director Peter Gridling. The former president of the Jewish Community Vienna (IKG) had sharply criticized the invitation to the philosopher Omri Boehm to give a speech on Judenplatz. "This is a promise that makes us happy," said Misik. "Three weeks ago he said he would throw eggs at us - and now he's here."

Manfred Tisal became famous as the "EU farmer" of the Villach carnival

(Bild: Ute Rojsek-Wiedergut)

It was difficult to get protagonists from the FPÖ to take part, reported Misik. In addition to Peter Gridling, Director of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism from 2008 to 2020, who was suspended in the wake of the BVT affair, Manfred Tisal, who became known as the "EU farmer from the Villach Carnival" and was an FPÖ candidate in the 2019 European elections, and Christoph Pöchinger, an FPÖ-affiliated PR consultant, are also expected to attend.

Christoph Pöchinger

(Bild: GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / picturedesk.com)

Ex-politicians Ursula Stenzel and Heide Schmidt have also confirmed their attendance - the latter as the opening speaker on Friday.