Yanis Varoufakis is facing trial after a podcast anecdote about taking MDMA at a Sydney festival nearly four decades ago.
Greece’s former Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, is set to stand trial after admitting on a podcast that he took a single MDMA pill at a festival in Sydney back in 1989, a disclosure prosecutors have framed as the promotion of drug use.
The former Syriza official and current MeRA25 secretary is due in court December 16th, 2026, turning a seemingly offhanded anecdote about a rave almost four decades ago into the basis for an unusually controversial drug-related prosecution.
Varoufakis made the comments on the podcast 3026: Human Algorithm, where he said the experience was initially pleasant but was followed by a brutal migraine that ultimately deterred him from taking ecstasy again. He also acknowledged past marijuana use and later said he had shared the story as a warning about the consequences of drug use and the loss of freedom that can come with addiction, Reuters reports.
The case has been reported in Greece as involving allegations of incitement and promotion of narcotics under the country’s drug laws. If convicted, Varoufakis could face penalties including at least six months in prison and a fine of up to €50,000. His party, MeRA25, has accused Greece’s conservative government of weaponizing the judiciary against a prominent political critic.
Varoufakis responded to the case through a statement posted to X.
“In short, my ridiculous prosecution must be seen within the wider, West-wide, surge of an insidious new form of fascism,” he wrote. “In this context, I am honoured by their determination to persecute me – as it grants me the privilege of calling upon people of good conscience, from around the world, to stand together, to oppose them.”