-
keystone-sda.ch
—
1/7
According to the supervisory authority, Michael Lauber is said to have committed several violations of official duties in connection with the FIFA affair.
—-
keystone-sda.ch
—
2/7
Theo Zwanziger, former president of the DFB, speaks during a press conference on the indictment of the Swiss authorities.
—-
Getty Images
—
3/7
“I can throw the Swiss verdict in the trash,” said Zwanziger.
—-
AP
—
7/7
Blatter (left) and Beckenbauer will not travel to Ticino.
—-
—-
It should have been a showcase trial by the federal prosecutor: the evidence that the 2006 World Cup was virtually bought by the Germans. The trial is now threatening to become an embarrassing defeat for the federal prosecutor. This was only a few days after the exposure of Federal Attorney Michael Lauber.
–
According to the supervisory authority, this is said to have committed several violations of official duties in connection with the FIFA affair. He had told the untruth, was disloyal, had shown himself inconsiderate and had a false professional understanding, which is why his wages should be cut.
–
And now the summer fairy tale, which has long since mutated into a horror story not only for the organizers, but also threatens to become for the federal prosecutor. The Swiss lawyer of ex-DFB boss Theo Zwanziger, who is accused of fraudulent complicity, has already stepped on the gas when he explained why his client would not travel to Ticino: “He would like us to have it from our point of view for many reasons, the Swiss federal prosecutor’s office completely refuted the illegal trial in the main trial to which it is entitled. » Twenty doesn’t travel because he just had surgery on both eyes. An operation that he had deliberately carried out in February because of the trial, when the trial was still scheduled for January. But it was postponed to March.
–
And the federal prosecutor’s office has the next problem: the case expires on April 27. Then a first instance judgment must be available. In Germany, where the process actually takes place, the allegations (fraud and unfaithful business management) have become statute-barred, which is why Zwanziger calls the process “sloppiness”: “I can throw the Swiss verdict in the trash,” said the most prominent accused in the ” Switzerland at the weekend ». In Germany, according to Zwanziger, the judgment would not be enforceable, “the whole thing is a presumption without an example”.
–
So nothing more can come in between so that it is enough for a judgment. The court will go full throttle from Monday. Three weeks with only three days off, plus a spare week. A crazy pace. But that too could soon become waste. For two reasons.
–
First, the lawyer of the ex-Fifa general secretary Urs Linsi, who was also accused, called for an end to the proceedings, or at least an interruption, because new, serious facts are on the wallpaper. And that’s about Lauber and Fifa boss Gianni Infantino. Lauber, his spokesman, Infantino, his legal assistant and an ominous fifth person are said to have met at a secret meeting in 2017. Their name, according to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ), results from Lauber’s schedule, but has been blacked out in the report by the supervisory authorities. According to the conclusion of the SZ, if this mysterious fifth participant was involved in the investigative work, the process would be finished because of bias.
–
Second, the process is under the corona knute. In his apology, Zwanziger had already indicated that the Federal Criminal Court should consider very carefully whether it could answer for the fact that in the immediate vicinity of the northern Italy region, which is heavily contaminated with the coronavirus, such an event could be held for days and maybe weeks. “We wonder what precautions have been taken for health protection and the undoubted risk of infection,” said Zwanzigers lawyer.
–
Well, at least this answer was delivered by the Federal Criminal Court on Friday evening. The public is excluded. Journalists may only follow the process in a separate room with video transmission. And access to the building is only permitted to people who are free from fever, which is why the temperature of each person is measured.
–
However, not many of the accused will travel to Ticino: Zwanziger (74), Wolfgang Niersbach (69) and Horst Rudolf Schmidt (78) will not come. Linsi may appear. And ex-FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Franz Beckenbauer were dispensed from the invited witnesses. Blatter, who suffers from back problems, should be switched on via video transmission. Because of his state of health, Beckenbauer was unable to follow a questioning with an alert mind and had to avoid any excitement. Paradoxically, the trial against him was severed from the main trial because of his battered health. But should he be able to appear as a witness? Only Günter Netzer is therefore likely to follow the contingent as a witness.
—
Related
