Urs Paul Engeler complains in court about the arbitrariness of civil servants

Weltwoche journalist Urs Paul Engeler has been on trial since Wednesday for publishing a preliminary draft of the new state protection law in the summer of 2005. Engeler was fined 600 francs by the Bern investigating magistrate's office at the end of January. He contested this fine, which is why he had to appear before the responsible single criminal court judge on Wednesday. According to SDA, Engeler sees himself as a victim of arbitrary action by officials of the Federal Police and the Office of the Attorney General. With his article, he wanted to make the "serious encroachments on the freedom of citizens" planned by the federal police accessible for political discussion. Engeler also denounced the arbitrary application of Article 293 of the Swiss Criminal Code on the publication of secret official documents. If all such offenses were prosecuted, "three journalists would have to be convicted every week", said the Weltwoche journalist.
The complaint that led to Engeler being fined came from the Office of the Attorney General, which was apparently running "Operation Mondo". Engeler saw this as a clear indication "that they wanted to do something against Weltwoche". According to SDA, the court is likely to schedule the main hearing and verdict in the Engeler case for June at the earliest.
In mid-March, the Federal Council commissioned an investigation into the relevance of Article 293. Justice Minister Christoph Blocher is currently examining a corresponding amendment to the law.