UBI upholds complaint by Gadaffi lawyer against RTS
Die Unabhängige Beschwerdeinstanz für Radio und Fernsehen (UBI) hat einer Beschwerde des Genfer Anwalts Charles Poncet gegen das Westschweizer Radio und Fernsehen (RTS) Recht gegeben. Dem Anwalt war in einer Reportage zur Affäre Gaddafi Verrat vorgeworfen worden.
In the "Mise au Point" broadcast on March 20, 2011, the then President of the Geneva government François Longchamp accused Charles Poncet - lawyer for Muammar al-Gaddafi's son Hannibal Gaddafi - of being a traitor to his country. Poncet criticized the RTS for not giving him the opportunity to respond to the accusation. The UBI has now found a violation of Article 4 of the Federal Law on Radio and Television, Poncet told the news agency SDA.
This article of the law stipulates, among other things, that editorial broadcasts with information content must "present facts and events in an appropriate manner" so that "the public can form its own opinion". According to RTS, the allegations made by Longchamp were certainly interesting and were therefore broadcast. However, they were already known. In addition, the accusations had been relativized in a journalistic context, said Jean-Jacques Roth, member of the RTS management. The UBI took the view that the public was not as familiar with the dossier as the journalists and had therefore taken the allegations seriously, Roth continued. "We take note of this," he added.
The UBI is an extra-parliamentary commission of the Swiss Confederation. In response to complaints, it must determine whether radio and television broadcasts have violated provisions on the content of editorial programs or whether there has been an unlawful refusal of access to the program. (SDA)
