SOCCER-FIFA/SWISS INVESTIGATION Blatter not under Swiss investigation, attorney general says

Record ID: 150042

  • Title: SOCCER-FIFA/SWISS INVESTIGATION Blatter not under Swiss investigation, attorney general says
  • Date: 3rd June 2015
  • Summary: BERN, SWITZERLAND (JUNE 3, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SWISS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE BUILDING ANDRE MARTY, SPOKESMAN OF THE SWISS ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S OFFICE, TALKING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESMAN OF THE SWISS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, ANDRE MARTY, SAYING: "As the office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has opened criminal proceedings against persons
  • Embargoed: 18th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA21SY27G4LISY67YTPCQ384XSW
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Switzerland's Office of Attorney General (OAG) said on Wednesday (June 3) it was not investigating outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who announced he was stepping down in a hastily convened news conference the day before.
    "As the office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has opened criminal proceedings against persons unknown, Mr. Blatter is not currently under investigation of the OAG (Office of the Attorney-General of Switzerland). Therefore his announced resignation won't influence our investigations, but if need be at whatever point of time we won't be hesitating to ask him to provide respective informations," said the spokesman for the OAG, Andre Marty.
    FIFA was stunned last week by the announcement of a U.S. investigation into alleged widespread financial wrongdoing stretching back more than two decades. Swiss authorities also launched their own criminal probe into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.
    "The secretary-general of FIFA is currently also not under (Swiss) investigation, nor is he a person of interest to us in the sense of providing information. The same goes for the President of FIFA as well as the secretary-general of FIFA, if need be these persons will be called in, in order to provide informations of interest to the office of the attorney general of Switzerland," Marty said.
    Earlier on Wednesday, in a two-hour debate on the draft law, known as "Lex FIFA", the Swiss Council of States voted to make corruption at private entities a crime, but narrowly said that it can only be prosecuted on request if no public interest is violated.
    "Of course, it's not up to the office of the attorney general to interfere in whatever kind of political decisions. Having said that from the OAG's point of view, of course it would be helpful to have a legal basis in order to be in a position to tackle whatever form of international bribery and corruption in a more efficient way," Marty told Reuters.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register