Unauthorized Violation of Personal Circumstances through False Statements about the Former Political Stance of a Contemporary Public Figure

Facts

In 1979, Jürg Frischknecht, Peter Haffner, Ueli Haldimann, and Peter Niggli published the book "Die unheimlichen Patrioten", in which they associated Robert Eibel, an employee of the Gotthard Association, with the frontist movement in Switzerland. Eibel felt that various parts of the book violated his personal circumstances and filed a lawsuit with the District Court of Zurich.

The District Court of Zurich and the High Court of the Canton of Zurich partially upheld the lawsuit. The defendant authors then appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court decided that the defendants' representation that the Redressement National had taken over the legacy of the frontist Bund für Volk und Heimat and that Robert Eibel had been involved in the founding of the Redressement National in 1936 and was its successor, was not sufficient to impair the plaintiff's reputation. These statements correspond to historical truth and are protected by freedom of the press.

However, the Federal Supreme Court considered the claims that Eibel was a co-author of the "Entwurf Allgöwer-Eibel", which contained "more…