Le Matin: "Crass violation of the freedom of the press".
The apartment of a journalist from Le Matin was searched on Tuesday morning after a professor at the University of Neuchâtel filed a complaint against him. Le Matin and the Impressum union are calling it a «serious infringement of press freedom.».
The professor had filed a complaint against journalist Ludovic Rocchi at the end of July because of a series of articles. He accuses him of defamation, slander and violation of official secrecy. In connection with this complaint, the search of the apartment was ordered. Neuchâtel prosecutor Nicolas Aubert confirmed a corresponding report from Le Matin in response to an inquiry from the SDA news agency.
During the search, notes and computer material were seized, some of which also belonged to the journalist's wife, who was home alone at the time. The prosecutor, four inspectors and an informatics expert were involved in the search. According to prosecutor Aubert, the procedure was proportionate. Le Matin, on the other hand, was shocked by the actions of the Neuchâtel judiciary. The journalists' union Impressum also criticized the procedure. It was a "blatant violation of the freedom of the press".
Rocchi's articles had led the Neuchâtel State Council in the spring to decide to launch an administrative investigation into allegations of plagiarism at the University of Neuchâtel's economics faculty. The State Council also held at the time that the facts published in a media report violated the presumption of innocence against a professor. (SDA)
