Justice FDP National Councillor Michel charged with defamation offenses
A criminal complaint has been filed against Solothurn FDP National Councillor Simon Michel for defamation offenses. The complaint has been received by the Solothurn public prosecutor's office. To enable them to investigate, they have requested that Michel's immunity be waived.
06.11.2025, 14:02
06.11.2025, 15:31
SDA
The public prosecutor's office confirmed the existence of the complaint on Thursday at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency. The platform 20min.ch first reported on the matter. As the 48-year-old Michel is a member of parliament, the first step is to clarify whether his immunity should be waived, the public prosecutor's office wrote.
"A normal process"
The public prosecutor's office did not provide any further details. A request to waive Michel's immunity was published by the parliamentary services without further details. Michel himself has also not yet provided any information on the specific case.
Michel wrote on X that he had been informed by the Immunity Commission that the Solothurn public prosecutor's office had received a complaint from a citizen for defamation and that a request had been made to waive his immunity. The Commission will examine the case as usual and then decide on how to proceed. "This is a normal process."
Michel has been a member of the National Council since 2023. He was a Solothurn cantonal councillor from 2017 to 2024. Since 2014, he has also been Managing Director of the medical technology company Ypsomed, which was founded by his father.
Members of the highest federal authorities, and therefore also members of the National Council and Council of States, are generally protected from prosecution by immunity. The purpose is to maintain the functioning of the federal authorities, as can be seen in a fact sheet from the Parliamentary Services.
Immunity is rarely waived
It is rare for the immunity of a member of the Council to be waived. This must be requested by a prosecuting authority. The Immunity Committee of the National Council (IK-N) and the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of States (RK-S) decide on this one after the other.
The last time immunity was lifted and thus paved the way for investigations was in June 2025 in the case of National Councillor Andreas Glarner (SVP/AG). The reason for this was a deepfake video that Glarner had shared during the 2023 election campaign. In it, Basel Green Party National Councillor Sibel Arslan called for a vote for the SVP. Arslan subsequently reported Glarner to the police.
