Fri, May 26th 2023
Special prosecutor Peter Marti this week announced that he would be leaving the highly-publicized investigation into Swiss President Alain Berset’s suspected leaks of confidential information to the Swiss media at the height of the pandemic.
Berset is in hot water over allegedly passing on information about federal Covid-19 measures to Swiss media house Ringier, according to a bombshell report in Schweiz am Wochenende (SaW).
Berset, who served as the head of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) during the Covid-19 pandemic, currently holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year. During the pandemic, Berset supervised such measures as a countrywide lockdown, mask mandates, vaccine protocols, and the controversial Mobile COVID Certificate.
According to the report, Berset’s former head of communications, Peter Lauener, repeatedly and illegally handed over confidential intelligence to Ringier concerning pandemic measures such as vaccine releases and when businesses would be allowed to reopen.
Read more: How many Swiss died of Covid vaccines?
Lauener reportedly regularly informed Ringier boss Marc Walder what the seven members of the Federal Council discussed pertaining to Covid measures that would affect Swiss residents and businesses. Ringier is a media conglomerate which owns Swiss publications such as Blick.
A special, federal investigator has been in the works since late 2020. Former judge Marti was appointed to the case as a special public prosecutor in January 2021.
Berset, so far, has denied knowing anything about Lauener transmitting confidential information nor any sort of arrangement with Ringier. As for Lauener, he was put in jail after his questioning.
Marti said he “stumbled upon” emails that suggest Lauener is guilty of tipping off the media; Lauener responded by accusing Marti of criminal misconduct, as well.
Investigator Marti announced Thursday that he has asked to be released from his duties “for personal reasons” and that the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has accepted his request.
The case comes at a highly political moment as it is an election year. Even if Berset is not found guilty, critics say the accusations weaken his reputation and that of the Social Democratic Party.
Berset has already been the subject of several scandals. In 2019, a former lover of Berset’s attempted to blackmail him on the threat of publishing private letters and photographs. In 2021 he was arrested mid-flight by French military for flying over a restricted area in his private plane. And most recently, a Swiss banker filed criminal charges against Berset for making false statements surrounding Covid-19 vaccines.
Read more: Will Switzerland extend emergency Covid restrictions?
In the days after the “Covid leaks” report was published, Berset’s critics were outspoken.
“It is now difficult for Alain Berset to maintain credibility,” said Balthasar Glättli, the President of the Green political party, when he appeared on Swiss public television RTS’s “Forum” interview program.
If Berset was involved in or even knew about the illegal leaks, his actions are “harmful to the state,” Glättli added.
“It will certainly not strengthen his position as President of the Confederation, which is bad in the crisis situation we are experiencing now,” he continued. For some members of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), the actions are enough to warrant Berset’s resignation, even if it is highly unusual for Switzerland.
Berset should “ask how much credibility he and Switzerland are willing to lose for him to remain the President of the Confederation,” Valais SVP member Jean-Luc Addor told RTS. It is simply “the case of too much,” Addor added.
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