Application to lift the immunity of Attorney General Michael Lauber and commencement of criminal proceedings against Gianni Infantino
3001 Bern, 30.07.2020 - The Special Federal Public Prosecutor makes application to the competent parliamentary committees to grant the authority to conduct criminal proceedings against Attorney General Michael Lauber. At the same time, he commences criminal proceedings against FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Upper Valais, Rinaldo Arnold.
On 29th June 2020, the Supervisory Authority for the Office of the Attorney General (AB-BA) appointed Dr. iur. Stefan Keller, President of the Cantonal and Administrative Court of the Canton of Obwalden, as a Special Federal Public Prosecutor. His original task was to examine four requests for criminal proceedings that had been received against Attorney General Michael Lauber, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and other individuals. Since then, further requests for criminal proceedings have been made. Stefan Keller has now completed his examination of two such requests. He has reached the conclusion that, in connection with the meetings between Attorney General Michael Lauber and the FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Upper Valais, there are indications of criminal conduct. This concerns abuse of public office (Article 312 of the Swiss Criminal Code), breach of official secrecy (Article 320 of the Swiss Criminal Code), assisting offenders (Article 305 of the Swiss Criminal Code) and incitement to these acts. Additional criminal acts and the commencement of further proceedings remain reserved.
In accordance with Article 14 of the Swiss Accountability Act, the prosecution of criminal proceedings against members of the authorities elected by the Federal Assembly, pursuant to criminal acts in connection with their official duties, requires the approval of the competent committees of the Federal Assembly. This step is a precondition to the opening of criminal proceedings against Attorney General Michael Lauber.
The Special Federal Public Prosecutor therefore applies to the Immunity Committee of the National Council and the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of States for the prosecution of criminal proceedings against Attorney General Michael Lauber. At the same time, Stefan Keller is commencing criminal proceedings against FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Upper Valais, Rinaldo Arnold, who do not enjoy immunity.
The presumption of innocence applies to Attorney General Michael Lauber, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Chief Public Prosecutor Rinaldo Arnold. The Special Federal Public Prosecutor is independent in his activities. He is not available for comments to the media at the current stage of proceedings.
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Secretariat AB-BA
info@ab-ba.admin.ch
Tel. +41 58 464 25 33
Publisher
Supervisory Authority for the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland
https://ab-ba.admin.ch/
