Swissair hearings end, judges get case
BUELACH, Switzerland --Public hearings in Switzerland's biggest corporate trial concluded Friday after weeks of testimony in which the defendants blamed the Belgian government, the big Swiss banks and the Sept. 11 attacks for the downfall of the national airline Swissair.
The three-judge panel presiding over the case at a Zurich district court said it will start discussing the evidence behind closed doors. Their verdict is not expected before the end of May.
Nineteen former Swissair top executives, board members and consultants were on trial on criminal charges that include damaging creditors, mismanagement, making false business statements and forging documents.
Swissair was grounded abruptly on Oct. 2, 2001, after months of financial problems led to its being unable to pay for fuel and landing fees. Tens of thousands of passengers were stranded worldwide. Thousands of employees and shareholders lost their life savings, shocking the proud Alpine nation.
Prosecutors proposed a six-month prison sentence for Swissair's last chief executive, Mario Corti, and a range of suspended sentences for the other 18 accused, who include some of the most prominent business figures in the country.
Nine of the defendants remained silent at the prosecution's questions on grounds that it could prejudice parallel civil proceedings brought by former employees and shareholders seeking millions of dollars in compensation.
But Corti made an emotional speech in which he said he had done everything in his power to rescue the airline. He blamed the carrier's collapse mainly on banks UBS and Credit Suisse -- two of the creditors of the parent SAirGroup.
He said the banks had "strangled" the airline with the so-called "Phoenix Plan" aimed at having the company's regional unit Crossair take over parts of the Swissair business. Corti said the banks had foreseen Swissair's grounding and bankruptcy in the plan, which he said was drawn up behind his back.
UBS executive board president Marcel Ospel said Corti had embarrassed himself with the accusation and pointed out that UBS was not being prosecuted.
Thomas Schmidheiny, who was a SAirGroup board member, and Eric Honegger, a former CEO of SAirGroup, said the Belgian government put pressure on the company to conclude a misguided investment in Belgium's airline Sabena, which was on the verge of liquidation.
Sabena was one of a number of airlines SAirGroup invested in under its failed "hunter strategy" drawn up by former CEO Philippe Bruggisser, who was also on trial. The strategy consisted of acquiring stakes in smaller airlines and related businesses to boost the company as a competitor for larger rivals.
A number of defendants also blamed the global slump in the travel industry after the Sept. 11 attacks for cutting back on the airline's income at a crucial time just before the collapse.
