Aargau High Court: ban on Vasella photo montage lifted
The Swiss Young Socialists (Juso) have prevailed in the legal dispute over a photomontage showing Novartis Chairman Daniel Vasella half-naked before the Aargau Higher Court. The Higher Court overturned the ban on the photomontage imposed by the Baden District Court.
The judgment of the High Court is not yet legally binding. As the Juso quoted from the ruling on Thursday, Novartis Chairman of the Board of Directors Vasella has become one of the "outstanding symbolic figures of the political rip-off controversy". The poster's core statement that Vasella would have to prepare himself for unpleasantness if the initiative was accepted did not constitute a violation of personality. The Juso had lodged an appeal against the ban imposed by the Baden district court.
Bank bosses almost naked too
The dispute concerns a photomontage used by the Young Socialists to promote their federal popular initiative "1:12 - For fair wages" on a flyer and on the internet. The montage also depicted the heads of Credit Suisse and UBS largely naked. The initiative, which was submitted in March 2011, demands that managers should not earn more than twelve times as much as employees in the same company with the lowest income. At Vasella's request, the District Court of Baden ruled in summary proceedings in 2011 that the Juso may not use the photomontage for advertising purposes. (sda)
The Young Socialists used this poster to promote their popular initiative to limit managers' salaries:
