18 Parliamentarians complain to the Press Council
Eighteen members of the Federal Parliament from nearly all political groups have filed a complaint with the Press Council against the *Schweiz am Sonntag* newspaper's coverage of the Geri Müller nude selfie scandal.
They are of the opinion that the private and intimate sphere of politicians is protected like that of other people. This claim was blatantly violated in the case of Geri Müller. Elementary rules of the journalistic duty of care were disregarded, it says in a communication of the 18 national and state parliamentarians on Friday. There was in no way a journalistically justifiable reason to respect the private and intimate sphere of this politician so little. The article represents a new quality of disregard for the privacy of a public person.
This should not be the future of media freedom, say the signatories of the complaint. Among them are Council of States member Hans Altherr (FDP/AR), CVP President and National Council member Christophe Darbellay (CVP/VS), Council of States member Claude Janiak (SP/BL), as well as several party members of Geri Müller (Greens/AG). The first signatories are the Green National Councillors Louis Schelbert (LU) and Daniel Vischer (ZH). Not among the signatories are the two Green Party co-presidents and National Councilors Regula Rytz and Adèle Thorens. Exactly half a year has passed since the nude selfie story of the Green National Councilor and Baden city mayor Geri Müller was uncovered. Müller himself has filed various charges, including against the editor-in-chief of Schweiz am Sonntag. (SDA)
