Patty Schnyder loses to Ringier
Former tennis player Patty Schnyder has lost her legal battle against Ringier Publishing. The Zurich public prosecutor's office does not want to respond to the complaint of trespass, threat and invasion of privacy.
In August, Sonntagsblick reported on the financial woes of the ex-tennis great and her husband Rainer Hofmann. A journalist traveled to Wesendorf in Lower Saxony, where the couple lived with Hofmann's parents. Because the employee entered the property of the house and left it only after repeated requests, Schnyder's mother-in-law sued the publishing house for trespass and threats. Because of a picture of the house in Sonntagsblick, she also wanted to take action against Ringier for invasion of privacy.
However, the Zurich-Limmat public prosecutor's office now fully agrees with Ringier and refuses to open an investigation. In the ruling, which is available to the news agency SDA, the public prosecutor states that the accusations are not justified. The journalist had left the property immediately after being asked to do so. In addition, there were no signs of a threat that could have frightened the owner of the house.
The public prosecutor's office also does not want to know about the accusation of violation of privacy. The house is easily visible to anyone who is at the address. The photo taken by the journalist therefore does not violate the private sphere of the plaintiff in any way.
Unless Patty Schnyder, or rather her family, appeals against this order, the Ringier publishing house now has all legal disputes with the ex-tennis player behind it. Schnyder did announce a civil lawsuit in September in the amount of 8.7 million Swiss francs for manipulative and untrue reporting, but never filed it. (SDA)
