Bern’s high court again deals with Rickli’s rap

Bern’s high court again deals with Rickli’s rap

The Bern High Court has been dealing with Rickli’s rap again since Wednesday. At the request of the Federal Supreme Court, it examines whether, instead of defamation, it is defamation. The verdict is expected on Friday.

Four rappers and a rapper from Bern put a song about Natalie Rickli online in 2014. The politician and councilor SVP of Zurich was covered in profanity and expressions of sexual content. Among other things, it was said that Rickli owed his political success to sexual favors.

The case has worried the judiciary for years. The Federal Supreme Court concluded in 2019 that the acquittal of the sexual harassment charge was correct. The musicians would never have tried to send the song directly to Rickli. On the other hand, the higher court should re-examine a conviction for defamation.

The five defendants declined to comment Wednesday. His defense attorneys argued that the defamation conviction should be left with nothing.

The crime of defamation was not carried out. For this, it would be necessary to show that the defendants had made their claims against their best knowledge. At the same time, they couldn’t even know that their presentation was definitely wrong.

Cool rapper

In previous statements in court, the rappers had shown remorse and insight. The text was written in 20 minutes and the song was recorded “quite spontaneously”. The idea was to totally overdo it. That was clear to his own audience. But today you would not do the song like that again.

The representative of the Berne Public Prosecutor’s Office demanded a conviction for defamation. There is no evidence that the claim that politics owed its career to sexual favors could be true.

Artistic freedom has its limits where people are insulted and slandered. The attorney general’s office demanded higher conditional fines than the superior court in its 2018 ruling. At the time, they were around 65 to 80 daily fees. (aeg / sda)