Weltwoche-Pranger: Aggrieved parties fight back
Die Weltwoche published old photos from the police archives and mistakenly identified some of the people in them. Tages-Anzeiger editor-in-chief Res Strehle has responded. According to the NZZ am Sonntag, a man who was wrongly singled out is considering legal action.
Last week, Weltwoche published police photos from the 1980s under the title "The Tagi editor-in-chief and the terrorists". They trace the political past of Tages-Anzeiger editor-in-chief Res Strehle. The article describes Strehle's participation in a squat and refers, among other things, to old Woz publications in which he is said to justify "revolutionary violence".
"Disregarding the rules of journalism"
On Saturday Strehle position to the article. He accuses Weltwoche of "political campaign journalism" that has little to do with reality. The picture used is not a mugshot, although it appears to be. He was not even marginally involved in any of the acts of violence mentioned in the article and he had knowingly never exchanged a word with some of the people described. He did not comment to Weltwoche as he was convinced that the thesis and tone had already been established - even a statement that he would have been allowed to make three hours before the editorial deadline would not have changed this. Strehle condemns the "disregard for the rules of journalism" and is considering all legal steps "to ensure correct reporting in future".
Confusion "at the most inopportune moment"
As the NZZ am Sonntag reports, Weltwoche also made a serious error in the illustration of the article. A picture does not show a former bomber, but a man with almost the same name who had nothing to do with explosives offenses. He was arrested - together with Strehle and around 70 other people - in 1984 in a squat in Zurich and photographed (which is also where Strehle's supposed "wanted picture" comes from). The victim expressed his horror to the NZZ am Sonntag. He had just started his own business, so the unjustified pillory came "at the worst possible moment". He is considering legal action and demanded an immediate clarification from Weltwoche, which has since been published on the Internet by author Philipp Gut. The mix-up is "regrettable". Weltwoche does not comment on sources (in this case: police archives) and in Stehle's case the publication was justified because he is a person of public interest.
Police and senior public prosecutor's office interested in source
According to the NZZ am Sonntag, the Zurich cantonal police are nevertheless interested in the sources and have initiated investigations. Such images would only be released with the consent of the person concerned - or 30 years after their death. The old negatives will be offered to the State Archives for archiving. However, according to Deputy State Archivist Hans Ulrich, only one of the four pictures published by Weltwoche is in the archive. The results of the police investigation are also of interest to the senior public prosecutor. A subsequent criminal investigation for breach of official secrecy - an official offense - cannot be ruled out, according to spokeswoman Corinne Bouvard. (hae)
