Rock band wins defamation suit against Swiss journalist

The court ruled that the term "extreme right-wing" could damage the band's reputation. Keystone

A journalist for Switzerland’s most-read daily newspaper has been found guilty after he incorrectly described a rock band as “extreme right-wing” – a term considered defamatory under Swiss law.

In a December 2015 report about “when harmless clothing becomes provocative”, the journalist for the “20 Minutes” free newspaper targeted at commuters included a photo gallery showing apparel often worn by supporters of right-wing movements. One of the photos showed a t-shirt from the German language rock band “Frei.Wild”, which comes from Italy’s South Tyrol region, with a caption reading “A right-wing extremist view can also be communicated in a hidden way, for example by wearing t-shirts from bands like Frei.Wild, Landser or Skrewdriver.”

The members of Frei.Wild took issue with being characterised as “extreme right-wing” and sued the journalist who had written the caption for slander. On Friday, a Zurich court sentenced that journalist to pay a fine of CHF180 ($181.80) per day for 30 days.

In issuing the ruling, the court said that the journalist had clearly and wrongly categorised Frei.Wild as extreme right-wing, thereby damaging the band’s reputation through use of the defamatory term.

The defence argued that the article in “20 Minutes” was making a point about people who wear clothing with certain band logos, not about the bands themselves.

Christoph Zimmer, a spokesperson for Tamedia, the publisher of 20 Minutes, said in a statement to Swiss news agency ATS on Monday evening that the verdict was “unfair”. He said the Zurich-based media group is looking into the possibility of an appeal.