WikiLeaks founder hits out at Swiss
Source: Agencies |
January 24, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE founder of whistleblower site WikiLeaks attacked Switzerland yesterday for arresting a Swiss banker on suspicion of breaching banking secrecy instead of investigating the tax evasion he said he had uncovered.
In an interview published in the Swiss weekly Der Sonntag, Julian Assange, whose website has angered Washington by releasing confidential US diplomatic cables, said Switzerland's actions were drawing renewed international attention to its controversial banking practices.
On Friday, the Swiss prosecutor's office said former banker Rudolf Elmer would be detained over the weekend after police questioned him about breaking Swiss banking secrecy laws. A judge will decide on Monday whether to remand him for longer.
Police took Elmer into custody on January 19 after he handed computer discs to Assange for WikiLeaks at a news conference in London earlier in the week. Elmer indicated the CDs contained details of as many as 2,000 offshore bank accounts.
"Mr Elmer is in prison because he has revealed a criminal offshore system of tax evasion in which Swiss banks play a leading role," Assange was quoted as saying in an interview.
"Instead of investigating these offshore structures and going after the tax evaders, the authorities are going after Mr Elmer," he said.
In a separate case, Elmer was also convicted on January 19 of breaching banking secrecy by passing on private client data to the tax authorities and threatening employees at his former firm Julius Baer.
"Elmer's arrest makes it more urgent to examine his banking data and publish them as soon as possible," Assange said.
"Switzerland is putting itself into the spotlight with its actions," he said.
In an interview published in the Swiss weekly Der Sonntag, Julian Assange, whose website has angered Washington by releasing confidential US diplomatic cables, said Switzerland's actions were drawing renewed international attention to its controversial banking practices.
On Friday, the Swiss prosecutor's office said former banker Rudolf Elmer would be detained over the weekend after police questioned him about breaking Swiss banking secrecy laws. A judge will decide on Monday whether to remand him for longer.
Police took Elmer into custody on January 19 after he handed computer discs to Assange for WikiLeaks at a news conference in London earlier in the week. Elmer indicated the CDs contained details of as many as 2,000 offshore bank accounts.
"Mr Elmer is in prison because he has revealed a criminal offshore system of tax evasion in which Swiss banks play a leading role," Assange was quoted as saying in an interview.
"Instead of investigating these offshore structures and going after the tax evaders, the authorities are going after Mr Elmer," he said.
In a separate case, Elmer was also convicted on January 19 of breaching banking secrecy by passing on private client data to the tax authorities and threatening employees at his former firm Julius Baer.
"Elmer's arrest makes it more urgent to examine his banking data and publish them as soon as possible," Assange said.
"Switzerland is putting itself into the spotlight with its actions," he said.
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