Zurich judiciary must investigate SRF journalists
Published: Tuesday, Aug 20th 2024, 18:10
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The Zurich public prosecutor's office must investigate whether two SRF journalists made themselves liable to prosecution with a report on the "crypto prince" Dadvan Yousuf. This was decided by the Zurich High Court. The public prosecutor's office did not want to initiate proceedings on its own initiative.
The public prosecutor's office had actually decided to discontinue the investigation on the grounds of defamation. However, an appeal by Yousuf against this decision has now been upheld by the Supreme Court.
As the public prosecutor's office confirmed a report by several media outlets on Tuesday, the case has been referred back to them. They are now examining the next steps, they said.
Yousuf defended himself against a report by "SRF Investigativ", in which two journalists made allegations of terrorist financing. The Supreme Court came to the conclusion that the evidence was not necessarily sufficient. There was therefore "no clear case of impunity" that would allow the case to be dismissed.
Fraud and money laundering
The reputation of the former "crypto prodigy" Yousuf has been deeply tarnished in recent years. By investing in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, he claimed to have become a millionaire as a teenager. However, criminal proceedings are now pending against him in the canton of Bern for commercial fraud and money laundering.
Yousuf came to Switzerland as a refugee from Kurdistan at the age of three and attracted media attention in Switzerland and abroad on several occasions as the "Crypto Prince".
©Keystone/SDA
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