Corrupt Zurich cantonal police allow access to police files

November 23, 2017 - Michael Sahli
Explosive photos from the police computer are circulating on Zurich's Langstrasse. Only one police officer has already been suspended with immediate effect. Now the public prosecutor is investigating.

Is there a traitor in the ranks of the Zurich police? There is a great deal of excitement in Zurich's red-light district. Images have been circulating for weeks suggesting that a Zurich police officer has made secret information from the police computer accessible to a notorious street figure. It wouldn't be the first time that a police officer's proximity to the horizontal trade has been fatal.

The pictures, which were obviously taken in an office, shouldn't even exist. A police computer can be seen, the file of a delinquent including a portrait photo is clearly visible. Other leaked images show printed police files with the typical police photos: front, side, full body. There is a penal code on the table, private pictures are hanging in the background. A man's arm with a wristwatch can be seen in the foreground.

The explosive pictures were taken by the Zurich cantonal police. But how were the photos taken and how did they circulate?
What role does the Chilli's boss play?

The people the files are about tell amazing things: The photos ended up with Samir Y.*, of all people, the former boss of the notorious red-light bar Chilli's. One of the people pictured says: "Because I've been arguing with him for a long time, he shows my police files everywhere!" Samir is no stranger: After knockout drop incidents became known, several city police officers ended up in front of the Qadi for bribery (see box).

Samir Y. really boasted about his contacts with the kapo and the photos: "He threatens that he knows everything about his opponents – and that the police are always on his side." Either, according to the theory of the two, a police officer must be corruptible or blackmailable.

Samir Y. denies all allegations to BLICK. He also knows the pictures, but has nothing to do with them. His complicated explanation: "A woman took the photos during an interview, while the policeman didn't notice anything. The woman then sent the photos to my cell phone. When I met her later, she then forwarded the photos from my cell phone. By mistake." He does not want to say who the woman is.
Police officer suspended immediately

The fact is: the public prosecutor's office has also become aware of the case and is investigating because of the possible breach of official secrecy. “We have started the investigation and have already been able to locate the workplace shown. It's still unclear whether the person who works there took the photos," says communications officer Corinne Bouvard. She cannot say anything else about the status of the investigation. But: It is a job with the cantonal police in Zurich.

There they are shocked by the pictures and have drawn direct consequences. "The employee in question was suspended immediately," says Werner Schaub, Kapo's head of media. For everything else you have to wait for the results of the investigation.