Swiss banker held over WikiLeaks charges | Swiss banker Elmer re-arrested over Wikileaks charges

Swiss banker held over WikiLeaks charges | Swiss banker Elmer re-arrested over Wikileaks charges

Zurich: Swiss police arrested ex-banker Rudolf Elmer on Wednesday for giving data to WikiLeaks, hours after he was found guilty of breaching strict Swiss bank secrecy laws in another case.

At 1830 (1730 GMT), Elmer was taken into custody by police, having just been found guilty of breaching strict banking secrecy for publicising private client data and of threatening an employee at his former firm Julius Baer.

"The state prosecutor's office is checking to see whether Rudolf Elmer has violated Swiss banking law by handing the CD over to WikiLeaks," the Zurich cantonal (state) police and state prosecutor said in a joint statement.

They declined to give further details.

At a news conference in London on Monday, Elmer handed over data on hundreds of offshore bank account holders to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying he wanted to draw attention to financial abuses.

Suspended fine

The court had sentenced Elmer to a fine of 7,200 Swiss francs (USD 7,505), suspended for two years, without giving reasons as they will come in a written judgment. The prosecution had demanded eight months jail and a fine of 2,000 francs.

Wednesday's court ruling did not concern WikiLeaks and the defence will decide whether to appeal within 10 days.

Judge Sebastian Aeppli acquitted Rudolf Elmer on charges he sought USD 50,000 for returning client data to former employer Julius Baer and that he made a bomb threat to the bank's headquarters.

Elmer, who helped bring WikiLeaks to prominence three years ago when he used it to publish secret client details, had admitted sending Julius Baer data to tax authorities.

But he had denied blackmail and a bomb threat against Julius Baer and said he never took payments in return for secret data.

Elmer spent a month in investigative custody in 2005 when the charges were first made against him.

"I am a critic of the system and want to tell society what happens in these murky oases," Elmer, who ran the Cayman Islands branch of the Swiss bank dedicated to wealthy clients until he was fired in 2002, told a news conference before the verdict.

Elmer said Baer waged a campaign of "psychoterror" against him and his family and offered him 500,000 francs to keep quiet. He said he had never taken payments in return for secret data.

But he admitted writing anonymous e-mails in 2005 threatening to send client details to tax authorities and the media if Julius Baer did not stop unspecified actions.

"The situation was very threatening. We were very scared and I thought the bank was behind it. That is why I sent the e-mails," Elmer told the court.

Elmer also admitted charges that he sent client details to Swiss tax authorities, but he denied threats against former colleagues.