Journalist on trial for double voting tests
A journalist for the French-speaking Swiss television station RTS will have to stand trial before the Federal Criminal Court on Thursday on charges of election fraud.
The 47-year-old is defending himself against a conviction for double voting. The journalist wanted to expose a "weak point" in the IT system. The journalist had accidentally received the material for the March 8, 2015 vote twice because he moved from abroad to Switzerland. He was therefore able to vote once as a resident Swiss and once as a Swiss abroad.
The 47-year-old had already dealt with the electoral system in the past for his reports and therefore the double delivery of the documents also aroused his interest: He therefore voted twice on the morning of March 3 in order to be able to prove a possible system error. Subsequently, the journalist also reported on his discovery on RTS television in western Switzerland and also informed the Geneva State Chancellery of his actions.
Three weeks later, the latter reported him for electoral fraud to the Geneva public prosecutor's office, which in turn transferred the case to the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG).
Objection by journalists
In November 2016, the BA then sentenced the man for election fraud by penalty order: The proposed conditional fine was 10 daily sentences of 180 francs each. The probationary period was two years. In addition, the 47-year-old was to pay a fine of 360 francs. The journalist objected to this, however, and the case will now go to trial on Thursday. In court, he wants to fight for freedom of the press and freedom of expression.
Media union outraged
At Impressum, the journalist's conviction caused annoyance. In order to disclose the error in the voting system, it had been unavoidable to violate the law. The Geneva State Chancellery, on the other hand, pointed out that it had been obliged to report the case to the public prosecutor's office. It also specified that the gap in the voting system had been closed in the meantime. On the other hand, the lawyer of the RTS journalist said that his client had revealed a problem of public interest. He regretted the decision of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland because it completely disregarded this important aspect. He also pointed out that the journalist's conviction contradicts the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. It is not yet known when a verdict will be handed down in the trial. (SDA)
