Hans W. Kopp

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hans W. Kopp (1986)
Hans W. Kopp with Elisabeth Kopp

Hans Werner Kopp (born June 12, 1931 in Lucerne ; † January 25, 2009 in Zurich ; resident in Niederönz , Lucerne and Zumikon ) was a Swiss lawyer and media expert.

Life

Hans W. Kopp's father was Lucerne City President Paul Kopp . He studied at the Zurich University and the University of Michigan jurisprudence . In 1957 he received his doctorate with the highest grade summa cum laude . As early as his student days, Kopp was involved in anti-communist organizations and in the mid-1950s he founded the organization "14/39" (other members were Peter Studer , Niklaus Meienberg and Ulrich Bremi ). From 1963 to 1973 Kopp was President of the anti-communist organization Swiss Reconnaissance Service (SAD) .

From 1960 onwards, Kopp worked as a business lawyer with his own law firm in Zurich. He was well connected in the Zurich business world and at times had 50 directorships held. He was also a lecturer at the University of Zurich from 1966 to 1980 . As a speaker he also took part in media policy seminars for government councilors . In Swiss television moderated he 1974-1980 the media-political program "Fernsehstrasse 1-4". From 1978 to 1984 he chaired the “Federal Expert Commission for an Overall Media Concept”. Kopp belonged to the FDP . In the Swiss army he held the rank of colonel in the general staff (air raid troops ).

In 1960 he married Elisabeth Kopp , who was also a lawyer. At his encouragement, she ran successfully for the Zumikon municipal council in 1970 . It was 1974, the first community-President of the German-speaking Switzerland and in 1979 the National Council . When she was nominated by her party as a Federal Council candidate in 1984, rumors arose about her husband, which Niklaus Meienberg spread in the weekly newspaper and Karl Lüönd in the Züri-Woche . It was about alleged sexual assault and involvement in the bankruptcy of the Trans-KB company. The public and large parts of politics were outraged by the negative reporting, and Parliament elected Elisabeth Kopp as Federal Councilor .

Hans W. Kopp was accused of tax fraud in 1988 and the authorities were accused of complicity. Two months later, it turned out that the allegations were based on untruths. On the same day, Ms. Kopp, who shortly before brought an article on money laundering to parliament, learned about drug money laundering allegations against the Shakarchi company, in which her husband was in a leadership position - the original source was a Middle Eastern television program. Roger Köppel later claimed that "everything was invented" that was published as an accusation in the Shakarchi case. To avoid new attacks, the Federal Councilor called her husband and asked him to leave the company concerned. Thereupon Hans W. Kopp resigned from his board of directors mandate. A week before that he had already announced that he would leave the Shakarchi if the rumors did not calm down. He hesitated because his resignation could also be interpreted as an admission of guilt, but underestimated the political dangers of his staying, which then became a “stumbling block” for his wife in the campaign. In 1994, the NZZ criticized "circles that could and should have ensured that Hans W. Kopp surrendered board memberships that were problematic for the spouse of a federal councilor after the election". Ms. Kopp was accused of warning her husband about a criminal investigation against a company on whose board of directors Hans W. Kopp sat. As a result of this indiscretion ( Shakarchi affair ), Elisabeth Kopp resigned from the Federal Council. At the time, her husband advised her to stay in office and wait until the allegations were dispelled, which at the time seemed impossible to her under the enormous public pressure. In 1990 Ms. Kopp was acquitted of the violation of official secrecy, the federal prosecutor's representative had already denied a warning ( favoritism ) to Hans Kopp and later confirmed that it was in the interest of the country “that the spouse of a federal councilor resigned from the board of directors of a company that used to talk more unfairly Business might come, possibly even could have been included in a criminal investigation ».

In 1991, Hans W. Kopp was sentenced to one year in prison for fraud in the collapse of a financial company. In 1997 he lost his license to practice law in the canton of Zurich and Lucerne. The Kopp couple were ostracized by the public for years and subsequently struggled with economic problems. In 1992, the media company Ringier paid Hans W. Kopp 100,000 francs in compensation for false accusations. In 1998, the Tages-Anzeiger apologized to him, claiming that the newspaper did not want the Shakarchi company or its owners to have any knowledge of the gun and drug mafia.

Later, mainly since the premiere of the biographical documentary film " Elisabeth Kopp - Eine Winterreise " by Andres Brütsch , in which Hans W. Kopp appears in picture archives, he again took part in social life, including as a former Federal Councilor spouse ( August 1st Celebration , reception at the Lucerne Festival ).

Kopp wrote poems that were published in several books. A volume of poetry illustrated by Hans Erni was published in 1986. In 2009, a posthumous bilingual edition of his volume of poetry "The Creation" was published in German with the French translation by Oskar Freysinger .

Since the marriage, Kopp lived with his wife in Zumikon for almost 50 years. The couple has a daughter.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans W. Kopp: Information in the Democracy: Building Blocks of a Media Policy . Benziger , Zurich 1976, ISBN 3-545-37090-9 .
  2. ^ Elisabeth Kopp: Letters . Benteli Verlag, Bern 1991, ISBN 3-7165-0830-6 .
  3. ↑ The Swiss Observer , August 26, 1988.
  4. ↑ Correct and lawful . NZZ , October 27, 1988.
  5. ↑ 24 heures , September 1, 1988.
  6. ↑ Politics: is it a man's business? Club , Swiss Television , November 28, 2006.
  7. ↑ Elisabeth Kopp - A winter journey . Documentary by Andres Brütsch , Topic Film and Swiss Television, 2007.
  8. ↑ Yvonne-Denise Köchli: Was there something? Weltwoche , 27/2003, July 2, 2003 ( online ).
  9. ↑ Federal Councilor Kopp herself warned her husband . Tages-Anzeiger , December 10, 1988.
  10. ↑ Karin Landolt (moderator): Panel discussion with Elisabeth Kopp . StadTalk Winterthur , February 27, 2007 ( online ; MP3; 30.1 MB).
  11. ↑ Ringier AG apologizes to Hans Kopp , NZZ, June 22, 1992
  12. ↑ Kopp's litigation against “Tages Anzeiger” . NZZ, September 30, 1998.
  13. ↑ Political celebrities at the Lucerne Festival . NZZ, September 20, 2008.
  14. ↑ Hans W. Kopp, Hans Erni: From the Seventh Night . Verlag Stocker-Schmid, Dietikon / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-7276-7071-1 .
  15. ↑ Hans W. Kopp: Creation - Création Bilingual edition, French translation by Oskar Freysinger, illustrated by Rosemarie Winteler , Verlag Xenia, Vevey, 2009, ISBN 978-2-88892-063-2 .
  16. ↑ Hans W. Kopp - a man with many facets . NZZ, January 29, 2009.
personal data
SURNAME Kopp, Hans W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kopp, Hans Werner (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss lawyer and media expert
DATE OF BIRTH June 12, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Lucerne
DATE OF DEATH January 25, 2009
Place of death Zurich