Journalist must pay a fine of 4,000 francs

 A journalist from French-speaking Switzerland must pay a definitive fine of CHF 4,000 for publishing the article "The drama of the Grand Pont - The interrogation of the crazy driver". The Federal Court confirmed his conviction for publishing official secret proceedings, as reported by the SDA on Thursday. In 2003, the journalist had published a long article in the magazine L'Illustré about the car driver who raced onto the sidewalk of the Grand-Pont bridge in Lausanne and hit ten pedestrians, killing three. The journalist relied on minutes from the police and the examining magistrate from the interrogation of the perpetrator. The reporter had received the documents anonymously. The Vaudois judiciary sentenced him to a fine of CHF 4,000. The Federal Supreme Court has now dismissed the convicted man's appeal - the importance of the secrecy of the investigation outweighed the interest in information, even if the drama of the Grand-Pont had caused a great deal of media attention.