Switzerland to sanction a foreign journalist?

Juan Gasparini/Tdh

The Swiss Foreign Ministry (DFAE) has sent a letter of protest to the French press agency (AFP) in Paris regarding a report by Geneva bureau chief Denis Rousseau, under the headline, ‘The end of a taboo: is Switzerland ready to dialogue with Bin Laden?’

The news was revealed Thursday night (September 4) at a reception in Geneva’s Old Town to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Association of the Foreign Press in Switzerland and Liechstenstein (APES). Socialist Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey excused herself from delivering the keynote speech to protest the AFP report.

The report in question was about a speech Calm-Rey gave to Swiss ambassadors on August 25 regarding the importance of dialogue as a tool of diplomacy. After giving a series of examples around the globe she asked rhetorically whether such a dialogue (with Bin Laden) could be envisaged.

Following the AFP article, the DFAE issued a clarification saying there was no question of Switzerland engaging in a dialogue with Osama Bin Laden. It also asked AFP to issue a retraction but the agency refused.

Late Thursday, the Swiss Telegraphic Agency (ATS) quoted AFP director Alain Boëbion, saying he could not comment on whether the DFAE letter sought any type of sanctions against AFP. Journalists at Geneva’s Palais des Nations are wondering if Rousseau, who was expelled from Cuba by Fidel Castro in person, could face a similar fate in Switzerland.

Translated by PT