Former state councilor Hainard against journalist in court
Frédéric Hainard, a former member of the Neuchâtel State Council, is back in court in the canton of Neuchâtel, but this time as the plaintiff. He is accusing a journalist of defamation over an article published on the French-Swiss blog La Méduse.
The retired journalist was sentenced to a conditional fine of 30 daily rates with a probationary period of two years for the text. Because he contested this penalty order, a trial was held on Wednesday at the Regional Court of Littoral and Val-de-Travers. Dominique Arlettaz, who worked as a Neuchâtel correspondent for the Swiss Press Agency (SDA) until 2010, accused Hainard of criminal conduct in the text published at the end of 2013. According to his article, the former State Councillor allegedly ordered the arrest of a Russian child in 2005 so that his mother, who was to be deported, would go to the police station.
Cessation of proceedings submitted
During the trial, Frédéric Hainard accused the journalist of not having contacted him for a statement. He also referred to a discontinuation order from August 2012 regarding proceedings against him. The document showed that the orders did not originate from him, although he had taken part in the operation. The journalist Dominique Arlettaz emphasized that he had no knowledge of this dismissal of proceedings when he published his text. He would certainly not have written the text in this way if he had known about it, Arlettaz stated. However, he would have been interested in the reasons why the proceedings were discontinued. In principle, the journalist emphasized that he had been honest. He had only relied on proven facts from previously published articles and the report of the parliamentary commission of inquiry. It is still unclear when the defamation trial will continue. A date for the opening of the verdict has also not yet been set.
Two further trials against Hainard
In addition to this trial against the journalist, in which he is the plaintiff, the former Neuchâtel FDP state councillor is also the defendant in two other court cases. In mid-September, the Neuchâtel Regional Court sentenced him to a conditional fine for abuse of office. The background to this was a legal dispute with a woman dependent on care who accused Hainard and his mistress of coercion and abuse of office. This dispute and other events led to Hainard's resignation from the Neuchâtel cantonal executive in October 2010. Hainard also had to answer to the courts for his previous work as deputy federal prosecutor. At the end of September, the Federal Criminal Court found him guilty of abuse of office and violation of foreign sovereignty and sentenced him to a conditional fine. Hainard has appealed both the judgment of the Neuchâtel Regional Court and that of the Federal Criminal Court. (SDA)
