Journalist sentenced to conditional fine for election fraud

He subsequently produced a television report to draw attention to the weakness discovered in the system. The RTS journalist was sentenced on April 3 to a conditional fine of two daily rates of CHF 200 each, the Federal Criminal Court announced on Tuesday. The 47-year-old was found guilty of electoral fraud - he must also pay the costs of the proceedings in the amount of CHF 2,500.

The court thus followed the assessment of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, which had already convicted the man in November 2016 by summary penalty order - although the conditional fine imposed was much higher. The journalist appealed against the verdict, leading to the trial in Bellinzona in mid-March (Werbewoche.ch reported).

The journalist had known that double voting was illegal. The conviction of the 47-year-old was neither in conflict with his right to information nor with the public's right to information, according to the ruling on April 3. When assessing the offense, it was not decisive that the result of the vote had not been distorted. The journalist had subsequently reported his double vote to the registry.

The French-speaking Swiss man had tried to justify himself in court with "incoherent and contradictory statements" instead of acknowledging his responsibility.

Double voting at work

On the morning of March 3, 2015, the 47-year-old had voted twice electronically in the offices of his station in Geneva in order to be able to prove a possible system error. This was only possible because the journalist had inadvertently received the material for the vote on March 8, 2015 twice. He had previously moved from abroad to Switzerland and was therefore able to vote once as a Swiss resident and once as a Swiss abroad.

No benefit for journalistic contribution

In court, the journalist stated that he had wanted to expose a "weak point" in the IT system by casting two votes. According to the 47-year-old, his approach was "journalistic", as he could only be sure that he had proof by voting twice.

The court has now contradicted him in its ruling: the breach of law was not at all useful for his journalistic research. His double vote had not even been included in the final article as a picture or other evidence. In his report, the journalist had not even mentioned that he had voted twice - the 47-year-old explained this "blank space" with the "personal design" of the article.

Solidarity for journalists

The journalist's lawyer had demanded an acquittal in March. His client had never intended to commit a criminal offense. He had been "transparent and honest" in his actions. The journalist had exposed a problem of public interest with the gap in the electronic voting system.

This was also the position taken by RTS radio and television in French-speaking Switzerland on Tuesday. It regrets the court's decision, the broadcaster announced on request. This restricts the right of the media to provide information and at the same time makes journalistic research more difficult. The association Reporters Without Borders strongly condemned the "attack on freedom of expression and information" on Tuesday. The journalist acted in the public interest - this should neither be prosecuted nor punished.

The journalists' association Impressum described the conviction as "scandalous" in a press release. The conviction violated the freedom of information protected in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Impressum intends to offer its support to the journalist and the broadcaster RTS in order to challenge the "untenable result" at the European Court of Human Rights. The judgment of April 3 can be appealed to the Federal Court within 30 days. (SDA)