Press Council insists on protection of privacy

The Swiss Press Council has approved three complaints in whole or in part, primarily concerning respect for privacy, including a complaint against the Toggenburger Zeitung concerning the identifiability of a man who had not yet been finally convicted. According to the Press Council, a report published in January and a picture made it easy for third parties to identify the man. In addition, the man in question had been lured to a meeting with the newspaper editor under a pretext and had not been informed about the newspaper report. The man was also not informed about the intended use of a picture taken during the conversation.
According to the Press Council, the Schweizerzeit also violated the right of an accused person to be heard. In an article written and signed by SVP National Councillor Ulrich Schlüer, serious accusations were made against a lawyer in February without the lawyer being able to comment on them.
The complaint of a woman about whom the French-speaking Swiss magazine Femina had published an anonymous report in December 2005 was partially upheld. The woman had complained to the Press Council that she was identifiable in the article. Her place of residence, the number of children and her rare illness were mentioned. In its statement, the Press Council emphasized that these references had no connection with the rape story and were therefore inappropriate.