Violation of privacy: 20 Minutes journalist sentenced
The Neuchâtel Cantonal Court has convicted a journalist from 20 Minutes in an appeal for violation of privacy. He was found guilty of having described the family background in too much detail when reporting on the trial of the double murder in Les Verrières NE.
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The Cantonal Court of Neuchâtel overturned a decision of the Neuchâtel Police Court in its ruling published on Tuesday. The first instance had acquitted the journalist last December. The judge had come to the conclusion that the order not to disclose the family background in order to protect a victim constituted an interference with the content that had no legal basis.
The president of the Swiss Press Council, Dominique von Burg, had recalled as a witness in the trial before the first instance that reporting on the judiciary is fundamental for a democracy. Restrictions would have to be rare and serve a very important public interest. During a court hearing, which is partly held in camera, the role of the journalist and his duty to inform becomes even more important.
However, the public prosecutor's office disagreed. It appealed against the ruling of the police court. It concluded that there was a sufficient legal basis for giving priority to protecting the privacy of a person involved in legal proceedings over freedom of the press in exceptional circumstances.
Further move possible
The journalists' association Imprint expressed its concern about the ruling. It denounced a serious violation of press freedom and recommended that the ruling be referred to the Federal Supreme Court. This was the only way to guarantee that the constitutional mandate of freedom of the press was guaranteed.
20 Minutes has not yet decided on an appeal to the Federal Supreme Court, as Editor-in-Chief Philippe Favre told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Tuesday. He did not want to comment on the case until a decision on a possible appeal of the ruling had been made.
Motive jealousy
The motive of the double murder in Les Verrières in August 2017 was jealousy. A 74-year-old Swiss man apparently could not stand the fact that his former partner, some 20 years his junior, was leading a life with another man and shot them both with a handgun.
The Boudry District Court found the man guilty of murder and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. (SDA)
