Posted on11. May 2022, 2:04 pm
The National Council’s Immunity Committee decided on Wednesday that an investigation may be carried out against national councilor Roger Köppel (SVP).
20 minutes / Matthias Spicher
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Today, the National Council’s committee on immunity advises whether the parliamentary immunity applies to Roger Köppel (SVP) and Fabian Molina (SP).
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In his video interview, Weltwoche Daily, Köppel disclosed information that the foreign policy committee suspects to have confidential documents.
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Molina was involved in an unauthorized demonstration.
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So far, the immunity committee operating since 2012 has never lifted the immunity of an incumbent MP, according to the Tamedia newspaper. But Köppel’s case was different.
At its meeting on Wednesday afternoon, the National Council’s immunity committee lifted the immunity of the SVP of the National Council and of the publisher of Weltwoche Roger Köppel. This means law enforcement can investigate him after he allegedly leaked information from the National Council’s foreign policy committee in his video interview. First, the legal committee of the Council of States decides.
The committee decided otherwise in the case of the National Councilor of the SP Fabian Molina (SP). He participated in an unauthorized demonstration in Zurich, which the committee said had nothing to do with his work as an MP.
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The Foreign Policy Committee filed a complaint: SVP National Councilor Roger Köppel.
Tamedia
National Councilor of the SP Fabian Molina during the autumn session of 2021.
20 minutes / Simon Glauser
Waiting for the actors: Today, the immunity committee is meeting in room 286. Roger Köppel and Fabian Molina should be heard.
Matthias Spicher / 20 min
The commission met on Wednesday afternoon
The National Council’s Immunity Committee met from 2 p.m. and heard the aggrieved national councilors Roger Köppel (SVP) and Fabian Molina (SP). The committee, chaired by Green Country Councilor Aline Trede, discussed the issue of lifting the immunity of Köppel and Molina. If so, law enforcement may investigate National Councils. If not, they are protected.
The publisher of Weltwoche, Roger Köppel, is accused of disclosing in his video format information which he had from confidential Commission documents. Köppel reported the confiscation of goods from a Swiss watch company in Russia by the Russian special services.
Fabian Molina’s reason is different: a few months ago he participated in an unauthorized demonstration in Zurich. It was a counter-demonstration that ran parallel to the demonstration of the opponents of the measures.
The Köppel Case is specially stored
The experiences of the last few years suggest that Köppel and Molina are under protection. Because the Immunity Committee, which has been in existence for ten years, has never denied immunity from an incumbent MP, as reported today by the Tamedia newspaper (paid article).
For example, Green National Councilor Sibel Arslan was protected when she participated in an unauthorized demonstration in Basel. The Commission assessed this violation as too minor to waive the immunity. But Köppel’s case is different, the article says: here the Foreign Policy Committee itself has filed a criminal complaint against its member Köppel. And federal prosecutors had “reasonable suspicions” that he had breached a commission secret.