[ad_1]
The control authority through the Federal Prosecutor’s Office is now clarifying the criminal process for attempted blackmail. Federal Councilor Alain Berset does not want to comment on this at this time.
Federal Councilor Alain Berset was the victim of an extortion attempt late last year.
Photo: Alessandro della Valle (Keystone)
The attempt by a hitherto unknown woman to blackmail Federal Councilor Alain Berset has failed. But that’s not the end of the story for the Health Minister, although the perpetrator was convicted in September 2020. Last Saturday, “Weltwoche” made public that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office had sentenced a woman to a conditional fine in September for attempted extortion against Federal Councilor Alain Berset.
As it was met on Monday, it directs the control authority through the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (AB-BA) to clarify the control law. These are intended to show whether the Federal Prosecutor’s Office proceeded correctly. This has blackened the personal data of the woman in the criminal order against women. Also more information on the content of the complaints they have become unrecognizable. That the blackening in the penalty order was an SPezitreatment for Judge Berset, both the federal prosecutor and Berset’s attorney, Patrik Eisenhut, rejected Sunday. Eisenhut said that the criminal order had been issued publicly for thirty days.
100,000 francs needed
The perpetrator challenged Berset in November 2019. according to the sanction order initially «to pay an outstanding debt of 100‘000 francs », then refrained from doing so. It is not known what the complaints were about or what documents were sent. The sanction order speaks of “serious interests in secrecy, both in personal, family and professional terms” of both parties, so the sanction order has been anonymized and crossed out. (Read our analysis here)
No further information on the extortion attempt is currently anticipated. However, it is quite possible that Berset will face relevant questions at a press conference on new Covid measures, for example. Political adviser Marc Balsiger understands this reluctance, especially as Berset’s closest advisory team is very well versed: “The Freiburg resident would have been in front of the media on Sunday or Monday at the latest if he had expected an advantage.” His silence suggests that the explosiveness of this case is modest or that Berset is trying to protect the woman in question from the media.
However, the question arises as to why Berset did not inform the entire Federal Council about the incident, especially since he obviously took the matter seriously. Berset’s chief information officer, Peter Lauener, stated upon request that Federal Councilor Berset informed Federal President Ueli Maurer and Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter about the incident in 2019.
Very few are made public
Is Berset’s attempt to blackmail an isolated incident? “We can assume that higher political officials will face more blackmail attempts and things like that,” Balsiger is convinced. Very few made it public, and that was a good thing. So far, there are no more known blackmail attempts by federal advisers.
However, parliamentarians have become victims of these attempts. According to her own statements, FDP National Councilor Christa Markwalder was blackmailed in the Kazakhstan affair. It is said that someone asked him for money so that certain information was not made public. The Bernese then filed a criminal complaint. In 2018, several parliamentarians were victims of an extortion attempt. In addition tonumerousnorth SwissFour national advisers also received a ransom email asking them to transfer 1,100 Swiss francs to a Bitcoin account. If you do not comply with this request, the Fake eBay sales of manipulated child pornography in which the victim’s face is to be copied., released.
