Darbellay rebuffed after complaint: Weltwoche may report around son

Darbellay asked the Zurich District Court not to allow the weekly newspaper to report on his relationship with his illegitimate son and his son's mother and the corresponding custody issues. For the time being, the politician has not prevailed with his request. The court lifted a super-provisional injunction issued on March 27. The decision is not yet legally binding.

Although Darbellay was able to credibly demonstrate an imminent violation of his personality, he was not able to demonstrate a particularly serious disadvantage, the court stated in its ruling of 2 May, which was also made available to the Keystone-SDA news agency. The politician had previously voluntarily exposed himself and his family in the media. Darbellay must pay "Weltwoche" almost CHF 9,700 in compensation and pay CHF 8,000 in court costs.

Weltwoche got it right across the board," commented Weltwoche-author Alex Baur on Tuesday evening on the short messaging service Twitter. The court only prohibited the publication of files that Darbellay himself had brought into the proceedings. However, the newspaper never intended to do so.

Darbellay responded on Tuesday with a further complaint. He is filing a complaint for personal injury, his lawyer announced. Specifically, it is about an article about Darbellay that the Weltwoche had published in the print edition despite a temporary court ban (Werbewoche.ch reported).

The article from March 28, 2019 contains numerous unacceptable insinuations and allegations, according to the lawyer's press release. They do not correspond to the facts. Darbellay will not tolerate any further unlawful invasions of his privacy. He reserves all legal means to protect his personal rights.

The Zurich District Court has confirmed that the article constitutes an intrusion into Darbellay's protected private and intimate sphere, writes the lawyer.

The article was published despite the publication ban. Published for the. The court's super-provisional injunction had arrived too late for the print edition. The magazine had already been printed and was in the mail, as the Weltwoche had communicated.

The controversial text by author Alex Baur and all references to it were therefore blacked out in the electronic edition on March 28. In the print edition of the same day, however, the article was published as normal.

The article is about a dispute over maintenance payments. In the run-up to the 2017 Valais cantonal elections, the married Darbellay had confessed to an infidelity that resulted in a child.

The former CVP National Councillor and long-standing party president has been Valais Director of Economic Affairs and Education since 2017. The agricultural scientist from Martigny-Combe was elected to the government with the third-best result. The 48-year-old is a father of four.

The Weltwoche had defended itself against precautionary "censorship". This was "not justified", explained editor-in-chief Roger Köppel in a video on the issue. The person concerned was a public figure. (SDA)