Nidegger returns to court in Grossrieder affair
Canton Fribourg's police chief, Pierre Nidegger, is due back in court to answer allegations that he gave a false testimony during a sex trial. Nidegger was a witness in the July trial of the drugs squad head, Paul Grossrieder.
The general prosecutor, Anne Colliard Arnaud, filed a case against Nidegger in July. He has been ordered to appear before a criminal tribunal, according to judge André Waeber.
During the Grossrieder trial, Nidegger declared several times that he was not present at the first questioning of the drugs squad head on March 20 1998.
It was at that questioning that Grossrieder claimed Nidegger and Judge Patrick Lamon put him under pressure.
During three hearings, Nidegger persisted in contesting his participation in the March questioning, judge Waeber said. However, five witnesses have testified the reverse is true, that Nidegger was present at the March 20 hearing.
Paul Grossrieder was acquitted in July of charges that he had sex with a detained prostitute, of doctoring evidence, and possessing ecstacy.
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