Can the protection of bank secrecy justify restrictions on the freedom of the press in a democracy? This is the virulent debate that took hold of the Swiss Confederation after the publication, on Sunday February 20, of the “Swiss Secrets” investigation, which revealed the presence of dictators and criminals among the customers of the prestigious Credit Suisse.
The press and some of the political leaders quickly echoed the absence of Swiss journalists in the consortium of 48 international media which revealed the scandal. An incongruity linked to the risk that article 47 of the Swiss banking law poses to journalists who exploit bank data leaks – up to five years in prison.
The Tamedia group, publisher of newspapers 24 hours, Geneva Grandstand and The morning, thus explained to have had to give up taking part in the survey, because “the legal risk was simply too great”. The leaders of Worldof the Suddeutsche Zeitungfrom Guardian and the OCCRP investigation consortium (for Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project – “Draft Report on Organized Crime and Corruption”, in French) have launched an appeal for freedom of the press, to warn against a possible application of this law to their journalists.
Lifting the “muzzling of journalists”
Barely a few hours after the first publications, many voices were raised against this “muzzling of journalists”. The United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on freedom of expression, Irene Khan, has promised to call the Swiss authorities soon. LONG Reporters Without Borders denounced a legal regime “unacceptable” and “unworthy of a democracy that respects freedom of information”. The Swiss Association for the Defense of Journalists Imprint see it “a crass and inadmissible violation” Swiss constitutional principles and the European Convention on Human Rights. For the European Federation of JournalistsSwitzerland “favors the particular interest of bankers over the general interest”.
This indignation did not take long to find an echo in the Swiss political class. Socialist parliamentarian Samira Marti has pledged to table a proposal next week to change the law, soon joined by the Greens (left) and the Greens (center). “We must lift the muzzling of journalists and finally improve tax assistance!” »launched on Twitter the ecologist parliamentarian Regula Rytz. “Journalism plays an essential role in bringing to light illegal practices”abounds his colleague Julie Cantalou, while the socialist Samuel Bendahan calls for “reinforce those who bring such acts to light”.
For them, the responsibility for this situation lies with the Liberal-Radical Party (PLR). This right-wing formation is at the origin of the reform which, in 2015, widened the scope of Article 47, by punishing anyone who exploits data covered by banking secrecy – including in the public interest, such as whistleblowers or journalists. The Greens and the Socialists, who had voted against the reform at the time, go so far as to suspect the PLR of having acted under the influence of the banking lobby. They are now calling for “transparency” on possible political funding received by the party from banks – a legal practice.
“It is up to the media to decide”
At the time of the vote, the PLR parliamentarian Andrea Caroni had assumed this restriction of the freedom of the press, considering that “It is not part of the job of journalists to disseminate secret, intimate, personal data that has been stolen from the media and to violate the personal rights of the persons concerned”. Asked by 20 minutes after the publication of the “Swiss Secrets”, the elected official now says he is open to a relaxation of the law. “The slider may not be set perfectly”he acknowledges, specifying that an exception could be granted to journalists in the event of publication of information “essential for the protection of a higher interest”.
An opinion that his colleague Christian Lüscher, the main architect of the 2015 reform, does not share: “A journalist who participates in the spreading of private data exposes himself to legal proceedingshe told the Geneva Grandstand. It is up to the media to decide if they want to take that risk. »
Pressure intensifies on Switzerland, threatened with European blacklist
The three main European parliamentary groups called earlier this week on the European Commission to reassess the status of Switzerland in the light of the “Switzerland Secrets” investigation, which revealed major shortcomings in the bank’s anti-money laundering mechanisms. Swiss credit.
This idea, launched by the European People’s Party (right) and supported by the Socialists and Democrats (moderate left) and Renew Europe (centre), poses a serious threat to Switzerland. In the event, still uncertain at this stage, of a negative evaluation, the Swiss confederation could be placed on the European blacklist of “countries at risk” in terms of money launderingalongside states such as Panama, North Korea and Syria.
For Luis Garicano, spokesperson for the Renew group, the “Swiss Secrets” raise “serious ethical and regulatory concerns”which will have to be taken into account by the European Commission during the next update of its blacklist, which is regularly reassessed. “The fact that criminals and despots around the world can launder money so easily at the gates of the European Union is unacceptable”did he declare.
A placement of Switzerland on a blacklist would have major consequences for its economy, since it would force Europeans to set up much more cumbersome control procedures for each transaction with a financial player or a Swiss account.
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