Rocchi case: house searches were illegal
The house searches of Ludovic Rocchi were illegal according to the Neuchâtel Court of Coercive Measures. Although they were based on a legal basis, they did not respect the principle of proportionality. The freedom of the press should have prevailed.
The compulsory measures court also rejected the request of the Neuchâtel prosecutor's office to unseal the journalist's documents seized during the house search. The documents must consequently be returned to the employee of the French-speaking Swiss daily Le Matin, the court announced Friday. The house searches at Rocchi took place in August 2013 in connection with a lawsuit filed by a professor at the University of Neuchâtel. The professor accused the journalist of defamation, slander and violation of official secrecy. Rocchi had uncovered allegations of plagiarism against the professor in Le Matin. An administrative investigation ordered by the government later confirmed partial plagiarism by omission as well as violations of citation rules.
The public prosecutor's office, which had ordered the house searches in Rocchi's apartment and in a hotel room booked by him in Locarno, went all the way to the Federal Supreme Court. They appealed against a decision of the Neuchâtel cantonal court, which had declared the house searches illegal. However, the Federal Supreme Court overturned the decision at the end of March and sent the file back to the compulsory measures court for a reassessment. According to a statement on Friday, the court has now also ruled that the house searches were illegal. The freedom of the press should have taken precedence over the need to investigate, the court said in justifying its decision. Subject to an appeal to the Federal Supreme Court, the public prosecutor's office must return the seized documents to the journalist without being allowed to unseal and evaluate them.
The Rocchi affair caused outrage in the media - the incident was seen as a threat to the freedom of the press. For the Neuchâtel prosecutor's office, however, these accusations were countered by another concern: the guarantee for authorities to be able to make their decisions without external pressure. (SDA)
