| The ecological organization Greenpeace
Switzerland launched, in Summer 1997, a big campaign against the policy
of the Swiss Confederation regarding the conservation of species covered
by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora). Dr Dollinger, Head of Division at the Federal Veterinary
Office, was personally attacked during this campaign. In addition, in a
letter addressed to the Head of the Department of Economy [equivalent to
the Minister of Economy ; note from the translator] and in a petition,
Greenpeace demanded the dismissal of Dr Dollinger.
At the request of Dr Dollinger, the Court of Berne District prohibited
Greenpeace’s poster campaign and the related publications on Internet.
The civil proceedings instituted by Dr Dollinger ended on 11 March 1998,
before the Judge of the Judicial Rounding VIII, with an attempt at reconciliation,
as provided by the Berne Civil Procedure. The attempt at reconciliation
lead to the following legal settlement, published in its summarized form: |
| 1. Greenpeace commits itself strongly to stop distributing the
posters or other printed documents illustrating Dr Dollinger and bearing
the text « Remove from him his license to kill!» |
| 2. Greenpeace commits itself to no longer making any statements
about Dr Dollinger contrary to the truth. |
| 3. Greenpeace recognizes that it has illegally affected
Dr Dollinger within the framework of its campaign of Summer 1997. Greenpeace
regrets this and underlines that the goal of its campaign was not to attack
Dr Dollinger personally but to inform a large audience of the attitude,
which is negative in its view, of Switzerland regarding the conservation
of species at the CITES Conference, and so to provoke a public debate to
the benefit of endangered species of fauna and flora. In atonement for
the wrong suffered by Dr Dollinger, Greenpeace Switzerland is paying 10,000
Swiss francs on behalf of the two parties to « ALA », a Berne
society for the protection of birds. |
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