GENEVA – More than a year after losing the previous incumbent in the wake of the FIFA corruption scandal, Switzerland has elected a new attorney general, a former police chief.
Predecessor Michael Lauber was initially removed in June 2019 from a graft investigation against world football's governing body after evidence emerged that he had held undocumented meetings with FIFA president Gianni Infantino in 2016-2017.
Lauber, who had been in the post since 2012, eventually resigned a year later and lost his immunity from prosecution.
Since then, the post of attorney general had remained empty because a parliamentary committee could not find a candidate to replace him.
Last week, the federal Swiss parliament eventually elected a successor, Stefan Blaettler, 62, a former Bern police chief, during a joint session of both chambers.
After a year-long search and parliament extending by an additional three years to 68 the usual retirement age for the post, he was the only candidate.
Blaettler, son of a police commissioner, took a doctorate in law at Neuchatel University before taking over the Bern police job in 2006. – AFP, September 29, 2021
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