Switzerland releases former banker who was WikiLeaks informant
Organisation:
Former banker Rudolf Elmer has been freed after seven months in pre-trial detention on suspicion of violating Switzerland’s bank secrecy laws. He could have been held until October. He was not told the reason for his release on 25 July or whether the charges could be dropped.
Elmer was arrested for passing two CDs to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that purportedly contained details of offshore bank accounts. However, according to recent reports, one of the CDs was empty and the other contained information of little importance.
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Whistleblowing banker arrested again
20th January 2011 Former banker Rudolf Elmer was arrested in Zurich yesterday evening on suspicion of another breach of Switzerland’s bank secrecy laws after handing two CDs purportedly containing offshore bank account date to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in London on 17 January. Elmer’s arrest came just hours after a court found him guilty of coercion and a separate violation of banking laws in connection with an earlier leak of documents allegedly showing that Bank Julius Baer, a privately-owned bank he used to work for, helped its wealthy clients to evade taxes. The court imposed a fine of 5,500 euros that he would only have to pay if he broke the law again in the next two years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Former WikiLeaks informant due to appear before Zurich court this week
17.01.2011 Reporters Without Borders calls for the withdrawal of the prosecution of WikiLeaks informant Rudolf Elmer, a former executive of a privately-owned Swiss bank, who is due to appear before a Zurich court on 19 January on charges of coercion and violating bank secrecy laws. He could face up to three years in prison if convicted. Elmer leaked documents to WikiLeaks in 2008 allegedly showing that Bank Julius Baer helped wealthy clients evade taxes by opening offshore accounts. He denies violating Swiss banking laws because the files he provided to WikiLeaks came from the bank’s Cayman Islands subsidiary, for which he worked for eight years. A Californian court closed WikiLeaks’ US-based website for two weeks in 2008 at the request of Bank Julius Baer, which said it was being used for the “unlawful dissemination of stolen bank records and personal account information of its customers.” The bank withdrew its complaint against WikiLeaks a few months later, after protests from many free speech groups, but never abandoned its attempts to have Elmer prosecuted. Julius Baer spokesman Jan Vonder Muehll has confirmed that the bank is one of the plaintiffs in the case against Elmer but stressed that the case would focus on the release of data to Swiss media, not their publication on WikiLeaks. Elmer is also alleged to have sent various newspapers, including the Swiss business daily Cash, a CD in 2005 containing the same information he later gave to WikiLeaks.
20th January 2011 Former banker Rudolf Elmer was arrested in Zurich yesterday evening on suspicion of another breach of Switzerland’s bank secrecy laws after handing two CDs purportedly containing offshore bank account date to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in London on 17 January. Elmer’s arrest came just hours after a court found him guilty of coercion and a separate violation of banking laws in connection with an earlier leak of documents allegedly showing that Bank Julius Baer, a privately-owned bank he used to work for, helped its wealthy clients to evade taxes. The court imposed a fine of 5,500 euros that he would only have to pay if he broke the law again in the next two years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Former WikiLeaks informant due to appear before Zurich court this week
17.01.2011 Reporters Without Borders calls for the withdrawal of the prosecution of WikiLeaks informant Rudolf Elmer, a former executive of a privately-owned Swiss bank, who is due to appear before a Zurich court on 19 January on charges of coercion and violating bank secrecy laws. He could face up to three years in prison if convicted. Elmer leaked documents to WikiLeaks in 2008 allegedly showing that Bank Julius Baer helped wealthy clients evade taxes by opening offshore accounts. He denies violating Swiss banking laws because the files he provided to WikiLeaks came from the bank’s Cayman Islands subsidiary, for which he worked for eight years. A Californian court closed WikiLeaks’ US-based website for two weeks in 2008 at the request of Bank Julius Baer, which said it was being used for the “unlawful dissemination of stolen bank records and personal account information of its customers.” The bank withdrew its complaint against WikiLeaks a few months later, after protests from many free speech groups, but never abandoned its attempts to have Elmer prosecuted. Julius Baer spokesman Jan Vonder Muehll has confirmed that the bank is one of the plaintiffs in the case against Elmer but stressed that the case would focus on the release of data to Swiss media, not their publication on WikiLeaks. Elmer is also alleged to have sent various newspapers, including the Swiss business daily Cash, a CD in 2005 containing the same information he later gave to WikiLeaks.
Published on
Updated on
25.01.2016
