The Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office appealed Thursday against the acquittal of Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter, pronounced last summer. A new trial will be held before the Court of Appeal of the Federal Criminal Court.
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Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter will return to the benches of Swiss justice. The Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office paved the way, Thursday, October 20, for a new trial, announcing that it had appealed and “requested total cancellation” of the acquittal of the two leaders in the fraud case against them.
Last June, after two weeks of hearings before the Federal Criminal Court, located in Bellinzona, the French and the Swiss were acquitted, while the prosecutor had requested a sentence of one year and eight months in prison suspended. They appeared for the controversial payment of 2 million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros) paid by Fifa to Michel Platini.
“The new trial will be held in less than a year, I would say in about six months. The defendants will have the obligation to be present in order to be heard again”, says Yvan Jeanneret, professor of criminal law at the University of Geneva. This appeal trial will give rise to a complete re-examination of the case before three judges: “The Court of Appeal will re-examine the parties and may also decide to re-hear witnesses or hear new ones to form an opinion”, emphasizes the Swiss lawyer.
This trial, conducted by the Court of Appeal of the Federal Criminal Court, may lead to a new decision or confirm the one given at first instance. The parties will then be able to appeal to the Federal Court, the equivalent of the Swiss Supreme Court and the last level of appeal at the national level.