Facts
The case concerns the violation of official secrecy by federal officials, namely Elisabeth Kopp, Katharina Schoop and Renate Schwob. In 1988, Jacques-André Kaeslin, an official of the Zentralstelle der Bundesanwaltschaft, drafted confidential reports on the investigations of the Staatsanwaltschaft of the canton of Ticino against the Magharian brothers, who were involved in drug and money laundering cases. The reports contained sensitive information about individuals and companies, including Shakarchi Trading AG, whose vice-president of the board of directors was Hans W. Kopp, Elisabeth Kopp's husband.
Renate Schwob, an official of the Bundesamt für Justiz, received these reports from Jacques-André Kaeslin and transmitted them to Katharina Schoop, Elisabeth Kopp's personal collaborator. Katharina Schoop then informed Hans W. Kopp of the content of the reports, which led to his resignation from the board of directors of Shakarchi Trading AG.
An investigation was opened to determine whether the officials had violated official secrecy by disclosing confidential information. The Bundesstrafgericht was seized of the case and rendered a judgment on 23 February 1990.
Considerations
The judgment of the Bundesstrafgericht considered that the information contained in Jacques-André Kaeslin's reports was official secrets within the meaning of Article 320 of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC). The court also considered that Katharina Schoop and Elisabeth Kopp had violated official secrecy by disclosing this information to Hans W. Kopp.
However, the court estimated that Renate Schwob had not violated official secrecy, as she had transmitted the information to Katharina Schoop for the purpose of using it for her work needs. The court also considered that Katharina…