The ad spans a full page and is densely printed with Vladimir Putin’s words. In it, the Russian president rants about a “hostile anti-Russia” on “its own historical territories” that is subject to “total external control” and “colonized by the armed forces of the NATO countries.” Putin is referring to Ukraine, which his army invaded on the same day. It refers to the televised address of the Russian President on February 24, 2022. The Swiss regional newspaper La Liberte printed excerpts of this speech in French translation as an advertisement last Saturday.
Above the ad in the French-language newspaper from Friborg is the Latin headline: “Audiatur et altera pars” – “The other side should also be heard.” A principle of Roman law. The ad was commissioned by a local politician and lawyer who had already noticed in the 1990s that as the NZZ researched. At that time he distributed hemp plants in front of a school and was sentenced to three months in prison.
In light of the war in Ukraine, he now apparently sees balanced reporting in jeopardy. In a text accompanying Putin’s war speech, he explains how he applies the Roman principle of hearing both sides here “by private initiative”. In addition, the advertisement is provided with a request for donations and the lawyer’s personal account details. His goal: to have Putin’s war speech printed in other local newspapers.
Without “denazification”
The editor-in-chief of La Liberte justifies himself in the same issue with freedom of speech. The editors had considered for a long time whether they should publish the ad or not, but had come to the conclusion that the “text in no way violates the legal provisions applicable in Switzerland”. The speech is neither racist nor does it deny the Holocaust. “Rejecting them under the pretense of propaganda would be a violation of freedom of expression.” The newspaper had “clearly opted for the Ukrainian side”. However, rejection of the ad would have opened the door to the “selective treatment of all types of advertising and political ads according to criteria of opinion and affinity”.
On Thursday, editor-in-chief François Mauron again took the position of freedom of expression to the SZ. There would have been a few negative reactions from readers, but just as many positive letters. “There was no shitstorm,” says Mauron. He also makes it clear: “The invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s Russia must be condemned in the strongest terms.” His newspaper has expressed this point of view several times in editorials and commentaries.
Before publication, the ad was checked by at least three people within the editorial team. After a long discussion with his deputy editor-in-chief, he decided to publish “the ad in the name of freedom of expression”. Both his colleagues and the editor of the newspaper agreed. After all, it’s not about “Holocaust denial” or “falsification of history” – nor are they “racist or sexist”. Mauron points out, for example, that the passage in which Putin speaks of the “denazification” of Ukraine is not included in the printed extract. Economic motives were not decisive in his decision to publish, Mauron continues. The campaign cost the dodgy client just 6,800 francs, the equivalent of 6,730 euros. The small local newspaper, on the other hand, risked lasting damage to its reputation.