Tribune de Genève: Convicted for statements on blog
The Tribune de Genève is itself responsible for the content of its blog, as it offers its readers the opportunity to maintain their own blog. This is the conclusion reached by a Geneva court, which condemned the newspaper for defamatory statements made by MCG president Stauffer.
According to information on its homepage, the newspaper was ordered to pay 1,500 francs in the first instance. For his part, Eric Stauffer, president of the populist Mouvement citoyens genevois (MCG), must pay 4,500 francs. On his blog under the label of the Tribune de Genève, Stauffer had railed against a former member of the management of the Cantonal Bank of Geneva and held him jointly responsible for the bank's financial difficulties.
Tribune de Genève editor-in-chief Pierre Ruetschi criticized the ruling on the newspaper's website Wednesday. The newspaper had already filed an appeal against the ruling. Because under the logo of the newspapers run the blog about a hundred people, Rüetschi said. In addition, everyone who runs his own blog must sign that he himself is responsible for the content, and the content of the blogs is regularly controlled by the newspaper. But in the case of Eric Stauffer, there was nothing to indicate that he had written anything unauthorized, writes Rüetschi. The newspaper does not have the means to monitor all blogs.
Tribune de Genève editor-in-chief Pierre Ruetschi criticized the ruling on the newspaper's website Wednesday. The newspaper had already filed an appeal against the ruling. Because under the logo of the newspapers run the blog about a hundred people, Rüetschi said. In addition, everyone who runs his own blog must sign that he himself is responsible for the content, and the content of the blogs is regularly controlled by the newspaper. But in the case of Eric Stauffer, there was nothing to indicate that he had written anything unauthorized, writes Rüetschi. The newspaper does not have the means to monitor all blogs.
