Geneva judiciary backs Tamedia in dispute against Maudet

The controversial article entitled "Maudet's critic must remain silent" was about a journalist from the French-speaking Swiss radio station RTS who was on sick leave and had been researching the State Councillor's trip to Abu Dhabi. According to the article, Maudet had "difficulties with the journalist's critical curiosity", which is why he intervened with the editor-in-chief of RTS.

After the report was published, the FDP politician demanded a counterstatement, which the newspaper rejected in the form requested. As no agreement was reached, a civil court in the canton of Geneva had to deal with the case (Werbewoche.ch reported).

The court has now ruled in favor of the newspaper's position that the counterstatement text could not have been published in Maudet's original version, as Tamedia wrote in a press release on Tuesday. According to Tamedia, the court ordered a total of six changes to the text.

Counterstatement published

Tamedia describes the fact that the court has removed "an unsubstantiated, reputationally damaging accusation" against the journalist from French-speaking Switzerland from Maudet's text as the most important success. With the changes ordered by the court, the counterstatement complies with current standards, Tamedia emphasizes. The amended version was published in the online edition of the newspaper on Tuesday.

In the article, Maudet states that he was accused of having put the journalist under pressure, either directly or with the help of his entourage, in order to silence her. These accusations are unfounded.
"I have never tried to influence anyone at RTS directly or indirectly," writes Maudet. If he had contacted the editor-in-chief of RTS radio about a program, it was because the journalist had not confronted him with information before publishing it.

The editors write that they stand by their presentation. (SDA)