Newspaper offers apology

SonntagsBlick publisher Michael Ringier has apologised to Thomas Borer and his wife, Shawne Fielding Keystone

The publisher of the SonntagsBlick, Michael Ringier, has apologised to the ex-Swiss ambassador, Thomas Borer, for accusing him of having an affair.

In his letter, published in the SonntagsBlick, Ringier said he had reached an out-of-court settlement with Borer and his American-born wife, Shawne Fielding, offering them compensation for costs they had incurred following the accusations.

Ringier did not say how much he would pay out; however, a spokesman told the media it would be a seven-figure sum.

The apology comes one week after Djamile Rowe, the woman who claimed she had an affair with Switzerland’s former ambassador to Germany, recanted her story.

Ringier said it was a mistake to rely on Rowe’s statement and emphasised that the publishing house only just found out that the Berlin beautician had received SFr15,000 for her false statement.

He also admitted that the story was against any journalistic ethics and that he did not hesitate to accept the resignation of the two people in charge of the story.

Resignations

Last Thursday the editor-in-chief of the SonntagsBlick, Mathias Nolte, resigned together with Alexandra Würzbach, the journalist who was responsible for the story.

When Rowe recanted her story last week she claimed that Würzbach had placed her under massive psychological pressure to frame Borer with false sex claims.

The SonntagsBlick triggered a media firestorm in April when it published photographs of Rowe allegedly leaving the Berlin embassy late at night.

The paper claimed Rowe had met Borer behind his wife’s back. Nude photos of Rowe, taken in 1992 for the German magazine Super-Illu, accompanied the report.

Last week Super-Illu accused Würzbach of obtaining the photos improperly by pretending to research a story on East Germany as a pretext to gain access to the magazine’s photo library.

The case has severely damaged the reputation of Ringier and raised questions about the journalistic standards of his publications.

The scandal prompted Borer to resign as ambassador after the Swiss foreign minister, Joseph Deiss, ordered his recall to Bern.

No U-turn

In an interview with the German-speaking NZZ am Sonntag, Deiss said he did not regret his decision to recall Borer to Bern as the alleged affair with another woman were not relevant to his decision.

“It wasn’t the first time he did not act properly. I had already warned him several times and told him not to mix his private and professional life,” Deiss said in the interview.

“Thomas Borer acted unprofessionally in this very case. He did not follow the foreign ministry’s advice to sue the newspaper immediately and he issued statements to the press without consulting the ministry,” added Deiss.

swissinfo with agencies