Trial of Ticino journalists: "Freedom of the press is the freedom of us all".

The journalists of the Sonntagsmagazin Caffé della Domenica reported on a serious medical error at the Sant'Anna clinic in Lugano in a series of eight articles. In the course of their research, they also raised questions about the organization of the clinic and its approach to serious errors.

Specifically, the case concerned a patient who had both breasts removed by mistake in 2014 due to a mix-up. However, the clinic did not inform the patient directly afterwards, nor did it involve the justice system in accordance with the regulations. Both were left to the patient, who still suffers from the consequences of the wrong procedure to this day.

However, the trial in Bellinzona was not about this serious case of malpractice and the suffering of the patient, but about the damage caused to the clinic by the Sonntagsblatt. The plaintiff's lawyer said that restitution required considerable compensation.

He accused the journalists of Caffé in their plea that they had deliberately wanted to harm the Sant'Anna clinic out of antipathy towards private clinics. They did this by mixing up the facts or making false connections in whole or in part. The responsible deputy public prosecutor did not appear at the hearing.

"Just doing our job"

The four defendants - the editorial director, his deputy, the former editorial director and a female editor - replied that they had only wanted to shed light on the affair. "We were just doing our job".

Problems in the healthcare sector are of great public interest and this case touches on deep-seated fears of the population. After all, this is not about a piece of furniture that has gone wrong, but about a person who has suffered serious and lasting damage.

The aim of the research was to find out why no intervention or control body had been able to prevent the wrong operation. In the course of the research, many factors were uncovered. However, they had only acted with the best of intentions.

It is difficult to speak of good intentions, argued the plaintiff's lawyer, when journalists conceal crucial pieces of evidence in order to protect their sources. The lawyer - a former journalist and head of information at the Italian-language radio and television station RSI - said that a journalist had to decide whether he wanted to go unpunished or reveal his sources.

No research errors

The lawyer for the accused journalists stated on the one hand that the journalists could not be proven to have made any mistakes in the series of articles and that the research and its preparation could not be criticized.

It is the task of the media to function as a social watchdog. That is why freedom of the press and freedom of opinion are protected up to the highest legislative and legal levels. Muzzling journalists is absurd and illegal. "Freedom of the press is not just the freedom of media professionals, but the freedom of us all". The lawyer demanded a full acquittal for all defendants. The verdict is expected in a week's time, on Friday, May 4. (SDA)