The procedure of the public prosecutor of the Confederation against Peter Lauener-the former head of communication of former federal adviser Alain Berset-in relation to the “Corona-Leaks” is closed, the public prosecutor said on Thursday, confirming information from the German newspapers of Tamedia.
As the classification decision has not yet entered into force, the public prosecutor of the Confederation (MPC) added that it would not make any other comment for the moment. An appeal against the decision is still possible.
In mid-March, the MPC said it wanted to close the procedure against Peter Lauener. According to the proceedings, the latter did not violate the secret of function by informing in advance the head of the Ringier publishing house, Marc Walder, of confidential plans to fight the pandemic of Cavid-19.
>> Read on this subject: The suspicions could not be confirmed, the MPC will classify the investigation into the coronaleaks
Peter Lauener had to spend four days in prison in May 2022 and the procedure against him lasted four years. He also had to leave his post as communications manager within the interior department, headed at the time by the federal adviser Alain Berset.
Compensation
According to information from the Tamedia newspapers published Thursday, the MPC granted Peter Lauener a compensation of more than 100,000 francs. About 41,000 francs will be paid to him to compensate economic losses, it is specified.
He will also be compensated up to around 62,000 francs for his defense costs and will receive 5,000 francs in reparation for the four days of detention and due to the very detailed media coverage of which he and the case have been the subject. The MPC has not confirmed the figures for compensation paid.
Peter Lauener is working on his own today in a communication and strategy agency in Bern. He was not reachable Thursday for a position.
The decision of the Federal Court as a trigger
The end of the procedure is a consequence of a judgment of the February Federal Court in which the court prohibits the MPC from exploiting emails exchanged between the former information chief of Alain Berset and the chief of the Ringier group.
>> More details in our article: Corona Leaks: the MPC will not have access to the ex-spokesperson of Alain Berset
The judges have thus given more importance to the protection of journalistic sources than to the elucidation of “Corona Leaks”. The entered data supports therefore remained under sealed.
This case had shaken the country in 2022 and 2023. It was accused of high Swiss officials for having informed the media of government measures provided for during the pandemic in advance. The special investigator of the Peter Marti era particularly targeted the communications chief of the interior department Peter Lauener, at the time close to Alain Berset.
>> Review the subject of 12:45 p.m. on the Corona-Leaks affair:
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