Former Julius Baer banker Rudolf Elmer, accused of breaching Swiss banking secrecy laws by handing over confidential data to WikiLeaks in 2007, has been found guilty by the Swiss court but escaped jail term.
Elmer was given a suspended fine of CHF16,800 ($19,397) under a system that allows Swiss courts to convert prison time into a financial penalty.
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The Zurich district court said that if Elmer commits a crime in the next three years, he may have to pay the fine.
Prosecutors had demanded Elmer a three and a half years of prison sentence.
The court found Elmer guilty of the charges relating to 2008 but didn’t find sufficient evidence on charges for allegedly giving WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange two compact discs during a news conference in London.
The court said it could not prove that the information on the discs was truly secret.
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By GlobalDataElmer’s lawyer Ganden Tethong said she was appealing the judgment along with an earlier sentence in a related case.
Elmer said that he was unhappy with the verdict, and added the judge in his case failed to consider many aspects his lawyer raised.
The trial of Rudolf Elmer resumed rarlier this monthafter he collapsed outside the courtroom in Zurich in December 2014.
