Peter Regli

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Peter Regli (born July 20, 1944 in Airolo ) is a Swiss officer. From 1991 to 1999 he was head of the Swiss intelligence service .

Life

In 1969 Regli completed his studies as a dipl. Ing.ETH Zurich . In the same year he was employed as a project engineer by the Armaments Services Group (GRD). 1974 to 1977 he worked as an assistant in the Swiss embassy in Stockholm under the defense attaché .

After another four years with the GRD, in 1981 he took over the management of the intelligence service of the air and anti-aircraft troops . On July 1, 1991, the Federal Council appointed Regli as a division general and sub-chief of the intelligence service. As a result of the Bellasi affair in summer 1999, Regli was entrusted with new tasks by the chief of staff on September 17, 1999. At the end of 2000 he was prematurely retired by the Federal Council.

Affairs

Cooperation with the apartheid state in South Africa

As head of the air intelligence service, Regli organized secret pilot exchanges with the apartheid regime in the early 1980s . According to the former head of the secret service in South Africa , Chris Thirion, in 1986 the secret services of Switzerland and South Africa agreed to exchange know-how on chemical weapons .

On January 25, 1988, the head of the South African NBC weapons program (“ Project Coast ”), Wouter Basson, accompanied by Police General Lothar Neethling, met with representatives from the AC Spiez Laboratory in Bern. According to Basson, the meeting was arranged through an informant and close confidante Reglis. Under the "Project Coast", the military doctor Basson wanted to nip possible uprisings by the black population in the bud with B and C weapons. Against «Dr. Death ", as Basson is called, was underway in Pretoria. Dr. Basson has since been acquitted.

Shredding

Before he was forced to resign in 1999, Peter Regli had almost all files on intelligence and military cooperation with the apartheid regime destroyed. In January 2003 the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) filed a criminal complaint against Peter Regli. In an administrative investigation in connection with controversial contacts of the secret service to the South African apartheid regime , the law professor Rainer Schweizer found that files were routinely destroyed by the intelligence service contrary to the regulations. The federal prosecutor's office then forwarded the complaint to the investigating judge's office.

Regli did not dispute the destruction of the files. Although a parliamentary commission of inquiry also called it illegal, Regli was completely rehabilitated by the Federal Council in 2007. The destruction of files by the secret service was in Switzerland's interest.

The rehabilitation of Regli was controversial, it was noted with indignation by aid organizations and the political left (Social Democrats, Labor Party, Greens).

The Bellasi affair

On August 13, 1999, shortly after midnight, officer Dino Bellasi, who was assigned to the secret service as quartermaster, was arrested at Zurich-Kloten Airport . He was accused of illegally withdrawing a total of CHF 9 million from the Swiss National Bank since December 1994 .

On August 17, the federal police discovered an arms and ammunition store in the Bümpliz district of Bern , which Bellasi had built. According to his information, he acted on behalf of the secret service chief Regli. It should have been about building a new secret army.

During the interrogations by the Federal Prosecutor, Bellasi withdrew the claim that she had only followed Reglis' instructions. In February 2003, Bellasi was sentenced to six years in prison. A considerable part of the diverted money could no longer be found.

Publications

  • Does Switzerland (still) need an intelligence service? Lecture given at the spring meeting of «Schweizerzeit» Verlag AG on May 16, 2001 in Zurich. In: Schweizerzeit series of publications . No. 38 . Schweizerzeit-Verlag, Flaach 2001, ISBN 3-907983-38-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Temporary transfer of Peter Regli. More harm than good? Interpellation by National Councilor Pierre Chiffel
  2. ↑ Major Regli will retire at the end of 2000. In: DDPS media release
  3. ^ "Apartheid" proceedings discontinued. In: look . January 26, 2006
  4. ↑ Worthy rehabilitation of Peter Regli. Interpellation by Council of States Hansheiri Inderkulm
  5. ↑ Misunderstanding of history: Ten Councilors want to disavow their own GPDel! In: fairunterwegs.org. September 20, 2007 (criticism of Peter Regli's rehabilitation)
personal data
SURNAME Regli, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss officer
DATE OF BIRTH July 20, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Airolo