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Doctor Christoph Berger: A good hour in the kidnapper's violence
Photo: Peter Klaunzer / KEYSTONE / dpa
The head of the Federal Vaccination Commission has been in the news so often in recent years that almost every Swiss person thinks of the corona vaccination when Christoph Berger's face flickers across the screen.
For critics of the measures and conspiracy believers, he has thus become an enemy - although Berger takes a rather reserved position on many issues, such as child vaccination.
On the evening of March 31, something happened that no one expected.
Christoph Berger, 59 years old, head of infectiology at the children's hospital in Zurich, was kidnapped.
For a good hour, the Swiss pandemic explainer was in the power of the apparently armed man, a 38-year-old German.
The reason for the kidnapping is still unclear.
When the canton police tried to arrest the kidnapper in the Zurich suburb of Wallisellen six days later, the German shot his girlfriend, who was ten years his junior, and shortly afterwards was fatally injured by the police shots.
Various weapons and ammunition were seized during the operation.
The kidnapper let him go
The kidnapper founded a start-up for neighborhood help in February 2020.
His business partner, a Swiss who has since been arrested by the police, is close to various conspiracy believers.
Is the kidnapping of the prominent vaccine boss related to these views?
Or did she have a different political background?
Christoph Berger has meanwhile vigorously contradicted this.
The kidnapper demanded “a substantial amount of money” from him, Berger said in a media release on Sunday.
The kidnapping was therefore purely about the "economic interests" of the perpetrator.
After Berger had promised his kidnapper that he would meet the financial demands, the kidnapper let him go.
Berger, who has also been referred to as the “vaccination pope” in the Swiss media, went straight to the police.
The responsible senior public prosecutor's office in the canton of Zurich said on request that the kidnapper's business partner, a 34-year-old Swiss man, is now in custody.
He is accused of involvement in the deprivation of liberty, kidnapping and attempted extortion.
The judges were a few minutes late
The fact that the kidnapping became public at all is due to research by the Zurich-based Tages-Anzeiger.
The newspaper published the story last Friday.
Just minutes after the article went online, two judges came down to the editorial board with a super-provisional court order.
This prohibited the paper from mentioning the name of Christoph Berger.
But by then it was too late, dozens of Swiss newspapers had picked up the story.
And everyone knew who the "nationally known person" was that the "Tages-Anzeiger" reported on from then on.
Had the judges been a few minutes earlier, the case would likely have been unknown or treated as a common criminal case.
"Massive hostilities and threats"
The police and judiciary are keen to contain the excitement surrounding the kidnapping.
Switzerland has traditionally taken a relaxed approach to personal security.
Top politicians and ministers can be seen drinking coffee, driving the tram or running to the train unaccompanied in Bern.
"Many even see it that the lack of personal protection is something typically Swiss," says Thomas Knellwolf, investigative editor of the "Tages-Anzeiger," who himself researched the Berger case.
Vaccination chief Christoph Berger only reported on Swiss television at the beginning of January how much the hostility, including from those who advocated the measures, bothered him.
The criticism of his person is hurtful for him.
"If it gets too much, someone else has to do it."
As the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" reported last weekend, Berger has been under personal protection several times in recent years due to "massive hostility and threats".
According to all that is known, however, on the evening of March 31, that was not the case.
From Berger's point of view, the waiver of bodyguards was probably a logical step: after the vote on the Swiss Corona law at the end of November 2021, the political situation calmed down significantly, and there were hardly any demonstrations recently.
The tone has also become more factual on social media.
Mask requirements and isolation have been lifted since April 2022.
The Swiss Minister of Health, Alain Berset, who also needed more personal protection due to the Corona disputes, recently said in the “Tages-Anzeiger”: “I think things are getting better again.
I really hope so."
Topped with apple spritzer
But whether Switzerland can ever return to the pre-corona state is questionable.
It is becoming apparent that the virus could also mark a turning point for the personal safety of public figures.
Compared to the sometimes violent attacks by opponents of the measures in Germany, things have looked relatively peaceful in Switzerland so far.
Zurich Health Director Natalie Rickli experienced one of the most serious attacks.
She was doused with apple spritzer a few weeks ago at the inauguration of a vaccination bus.