Court: Recreational hunter not defamed as “killer”
Wildlife photographer Alain Prêtre was acquitted in 2021; in 2022 the Cantonal Court upheld the acquittal on charges of defamation and slander, but convicted him of insult.
In La Chaux-de-Fonds, the court saw no grounds on 30 September 2021 to convict wildlife photographer Alain Prêtre of slander, defamation and insulting Neuchatel recreational hunters.
"Killers", "assassins" and "pests"
In three emails, the photographer referred to the recreational hunters as "killers», «assassins" and "pests with evil power».
The court concluded that it could not convict him, because although he had addressed Neuchatel recreational hunters in general, he had not targeted any individual recreational hunter in particular. The defendant described his statements as "well thought-out" and "carefully chosen".
Pierre Meinis, lawyer for the Neuchatel recreational hunting association, said on the radio station RTN that he was surprised and disappointed: "Neuchatel recreational hunters were clearly targeted. Every time the recreational hunting season opens, we are systematically accused.»
Calling recreational hunters murderers is not the expression of a viewpoint or an opinion, but of reality. Yes, they kill and decimate Wild animals, yes, they murder endangered species, yes, they severely mutilate roe deer, foxes, red deer and other animals.
Alain Prêtre
Acquittal emboldens Prêtre
«So-called recreational hunting is, as the name suggests, a pleasure that is deadly for wild animals and sometimes for humans too. I leave it to psychiatry to describe the pathology associated with this perversion, recreational hunting!»
His acquittal has emboldened Alain Prêtre in his campaign against the recreational hunting community: "I will fight until my last breath, not only against the gravediggers of nature, but against all those who attack the integrity of biological diversity.»
This trial was by no means a foregone conclusion, as the recreational hunting lobby has considerable influence, which it also uses in such cases. The recreational hunters naturally have the option of appealing the court's decision, but Alain Prêtre, who was represented by lawyer Marta Fiedorczuk-Hénin, is delighted with this fine victory.
What happened next: Acquittal partially overturned
The Neuchatel recreational hunting association did not accept the acquittal and pursued the case further. In June 2022, the Neuchatel cantonal court ruled that the acquittal on the charges of slander and defamation would stand. Terms such as «killer» and «assassin» were directed at the recreational hunting community as a whole and not at any specific individual.
Alain Prêtre was, however, convicted of insult, specifically for one crude sentence in one of his emails, which the court deemed offensive and an expression of contempt. The penalty was 30 daily fines of 30 francs each, totalling 900 francs. There is no public record of any further appeal to the Federal Supreme Court.
This leaves the core of the first ruling intact: anyone who sharply criticises recreational hunting as a collective and describes recreational hunters as «killers» does not thereby violate the honour of individual persons. The line is crossed where criticism turns into mere disparagement. How a case brought by the Jagd Schweiz association against Wild beim Wild turned out can be read in the article Success: Recreational hunting association Jagd Schweiz loses.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In our dossiers on the criticism of recreational hunting gather fact-checks, analyses and background reports. What the research says about this is shown by Hunting fact-checked: the state of research.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
All articles are written by IG Wild beim Wild as well as by external co-authors. Research, structuring and editorial processes may be supported by AI-assisted tools.
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