Complaint Against NZZ am Sonntag and Zofinger Tagblatt Dismissed
12.01.2026 | from Swiss Press Council
Reading time: 2 minutes
12.01.2026, On 14 July 2024 and 17 August 2024, the magazine of the 'NZZ am Sonntag' and the 'Zofinger Tagblatt' respectively published a detailed report on a criminal case from 1983. At that time, a young Swiss man had disappeared in the Brazilian jungle after meeting a mysterious so-called native tribal chief. Some time later, a travel group found the remains of the man. In hindsight, everything indicated that the young man had been killed by this tribal chief, and that the perpetrator was in fact a German. Both texts were richly illustrated, including images of the young man posing with the 'chief', as well as pictures showing the remains of the deceased, with his skull surrounded by candles during a funeral ceremony.
A relative of the victim filed a complaint against the two articles, claiming they violated numerous provisions of the journalist code of conduct. She particularly viewed the mention of the victim's name as an invasion of privacy for the victim and his surviving, traumatised family. Furthermore, the images of the remains violated the victim's right to rest in peace. The entire depiction violated the dignity of the deceased. Moreover, the complainant disputed in certain cases whether the images had been used lawfully.
The two editorial teams, on the other hand, argued that they had legally obtained the images, and there could be no talk of an invasion of privacy, as the authors of the articles had contacted the victim's family before publication and informed them about the work on these articles. Additionally, they paid respect to the dignity of the deceased in the selection of images, and the victim's rest was not disturbed.
The Press Council dismissed the complaint, reasoning that the privacy of the victim's family members had not been violated, and no one's personal privacy had been intruded upon by this reporting. According to federal court rulings, the victim himself no longer possessed any privacy that could be violated. Guideline 7.8, which considers not only the victims in distress situations but also the feelings of their relatives, refers to current crises, but not to distress from 40 years ago. The same applies to the victim protection of Guideline 8.3 and Guideline 8.5 (images of accidents, disasters, and crimes).
Press contact:
Swiss Press Council
P.O. Box
3000 Bern 8
+41 (0)77 405 43 37
media@presserat.ch
Editor's note: Image rights belong to the respective publisher.
Conclusion of this article: « Complaint Against NZZ am Sonntag and Zofinger Tagblatt Dismissed »
Swiss Press Council
The Swiss Press Council serves as a complaints authority for the public and media creators. It monitors compliance with the journalist code of conduct applicable to all journalists, 'Declaration of the Duties and Rights of Journalists'.
The Press Council comments on journalistic ethics issues either in response to complaints or on its own initiative. Anyone can file a complaint, and the procedure is free of charge. The council judges based on the code and the guidelines it issues.
In its decision, the Press Council assesses and justifies whether and why a journalistic report in the press, radio, television, or internet violates the journalist code of conduct - or not. In doing so, the council guarantees voluntary self-regulation of the media industry.
The Press Council also contributes to reflection and discussion on fundamental media ethical topics, and it defends press and freedom of expression.
Note: The "About Us" text is taken from public sources or from the company profile on HELP.ch.
Source: Swiss Press Council, Press release
Original article published on: Beschwerde gegen NZZ am Sonntag und Zofinger Tagblatt abgewiesen