Geneva judiciary whistles back media

The 34-year-old woman was killed in mid-September during an accompanied outing with a rapist with a criminal record. The alleged perpetrator then fled to Poland, where he was arrested. Last week, the 39-year-old man was extradited to Switzerland. Since then, he has been questioned by the Geneva judiciary.

The victim's family is shocked by the publication of details about the young woman's death. "These very painful details are part of the privacy of the victim and consequently also of the relatives," the family's lawyer, Vesna Stanimirovic, told the SDA news agency on Thursday.

A super-provisional injunction against Ringier is already in force, which prohibits the publication of information from the alleged perpetrator regarding the course of the homicide, as Henri Della Casa, media spokesman for the judiciary, told SDA on request. On Sunday, Sonntagsblick published a letter in which the alleged perpetrator demanded money for information about the crime. The newspaper had previously sent a letter to Poland asking about prison conditions and feelings of remorse.

The lawyers of the victim's family also sent a letter to the Tamedia media group asking them to exercise the same restraint. Furthermore, no photos or personal details of the victim and relatives should be published. Vesna Stanimirovic emphasized that it was a matter of protecting personal rights. On Wednesday afternoon, the website of the newspaper Le Temps published details of the young woman's death in an article. The information was taken over by the free newspaper 20 Minutes.

According to the lawyer, it is not a question of forbidding the media from reporting on the affair, but of maintaining restraint with regard to painful and intimate elements. She emphasized that a large part of the media had weighed up their interests, which the victim's family acknowledged. (SDA)

(Teaser image: Keystone)