Mail release becomes a matter for the judiciary

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The Federal Prosecutor’s Office (BA) has opened proceedings against unknown persons following the release of the e-mails of Peter Lauener, former head of communications of Health Minister Alain Berset (51). There is a suspicion of a violation of professional secrecy.

The corresponding investigations are ongoing, BA spokeswoman Linda von Burg confirmed on Sunday at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency. The “SonntagsZeitung” reported on the opening of the procedure. This is aimed at unknown persons. The BA does not provide any further information, such as the time horizon of the investigation.

Received more emails than requested

Blick had already reported in April that the federal prosecutor’s office had launched a preliminary investigation into the possible violation of professional secrecy.

The background to the step of the federal prosecutor’s office is the events surrounding the criminal trial against Lauener. Berset’s ex-head of communications is accused of leaking confidential anti-pandemic information to Marc Walder, CEO of Ringier, which Blick publishes. The accusation is based on emails received by Special Prosecutor Peter Marti from the Federal Office of Technology and Information Technology (BIT).

Marti originally investigated a completely different case, namely possible breaches of official secrecy in the Crypto Leaks affair over manipulated encryption devices. In this context, the BIT gave him several years of mail traffic from Lauener. This despite the fact that the special detective had only requested the release of emails for a period of six weeks. Marti quit the Crypto Leaks affair at the end of March.

violated personal rights

Lauener had filed a police report because of the publication of the email. Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Finance (FDF) concluded in an internal investigation that the Federal Office had violated the personal rights of Lauener and other persons involved with its publishing practice.

Due to the opening of proceedings by the CA, this publication practice can also have criminal consequences. On the other hand, whether Marti is allowed to use the too many e-mails in the proceedings against Lauener must be assessed by the court for coercive measures in Bern. The corresponding decision is still pending. (SDA/lha)

Source:Blick