Imagine that a publication tells that a presenter of a French channel likes young boys, or that he puts his hand to the buttocks of the interns, it should not normally go very far. On the other hand in Switzerland, the daily revelations Time de Lausanne on the supposed behavior of Darius Rochebin, the star presenter for two decades of French-speaking television, mobilized the Parliament in Bern. The deputies summoned Gilles Marchand, the director of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SSR), to ask him for explanations on cases of sexual and moral harassment on Swiss TV. As for Bernard Rappaz, the editor in chief, “in agreement with the director”, he withdrew “temporarily from the operational management of the editorial staff”.
It is true that Time did not go dead hand. Mobilizing three journalists for several weeks, the newspaper delivers on four pages a report entitled: “The RTS, Darius Rochebin and the law of silence”, damning on the practices of the Swiss French-speaking (French-speaking) television. Those responsible for sexual harassment, “wandering hands”, sending “vicious letters”, “suggestive” SMS, not only are not punished, but, “covered and defended by the hierarchy”, they still currently benefit from promotions. However, these “stalkers” profit in the article of anonymity. On the other hand, most of the investigation is devoted to Darius Rochebin, star presenter of the 19:30 TJ of Swiss Radio Television (RTS) for two decades, recruited last August by LCI.
Presented as the ideal son-in-law
The report begins with a dialogue between two Swiss television journalists. “Who’s hitting the walls here?” One asks. The other responds, “Darius, he does that. Darius is Darius Rochebin, born Darius Khoshbin in Geneva, of Iranian origin. Tall, thin, he is presented as the ideal son-in-law, the immigrant, perfectly integrated into the stuck society of Calvinist Geneva. “An actor’s presence, a hypnotic smile, a deep gaze that seeks to know with thoughtfulness and curiosity who you are, jet-black hair, impeccable suit and tie,” writes The Parisian, when the Swiss landed in Paris at the end of the summer. On the shores of Lake Geneva, the press has devoted only rave articles to him for two decades.
More voila Time brutally reveals that the character is not as smooth as it looks. And more serious still, that this double personality has been known for a very long time by the direction of television. She would know that the presenter “may behave inappropriately after the cameras are turned off.” Thus, in the New Year 2006, alongside other colleagues, Darius Rochebin “grabbed my hand and placed it firmly on his genitals”, tells a TV employee, specifying that “the other people in the room do not react ”. She informed her supervisor. Young men on their side tell of multiple intrusions into their private life: inappropriate allusions, lustful questions.
Swiss TV star Darius Rochebin is said to be particularly interested in young people attracted to journalism. He invites a young student to the restaurant, and would have asked him abruptly: “And you, Alexander, do you jerk off often?” “His internal reputation precedes him, says the daily:” Hands slipped under the shirts of male colleagues, salacious allusions or even proximity to young men. ”
Underwear “not very shiny”
The daily said that the presenter created fake accounts on social networks in order to come into contact with “young men”. “He used it in particular to obtain information about their private life and to orchestrate meetings”, writes Time. The television management is informed and reminds Darius Rochebin ” [ses] professional rules concerning presence on social networks ”. However, the journalist is not penalized. And anyway, it’s not a crime. Darius Rochebin has also just lodged a criminal complaint for “defamation” against Time. His lawyers recall for their part that no complaint has ever been made against him in 25 years of activity, and affirm that “at no time has Darius Rochebin sought to obtain unauthorized or illicit relationships, nor proceeded to exchange favors of any kind ”.
But then, the affair quickly passed the small journalistic world, the deputies of the Committee of Transport and Telecommunications of the National Council (National Assembly) immediately summoned Gilles Marchand, the director of the Swiss Broadcasting Company (SSR), to summon him to give explanations on the “problematic behavior of several employees”. He is not sure if he will keep his post. For the Christian Democrat MP Martin Dandinas, the SSR, as a public company, “has a greater responsibility than any other company”. Bernard Rappaz, the editor-in-chief, has already taken the lead, by withdrawing, and asking that the investigation “clearly establish the responsibilities at all hierarchical levels of the company”.
As usual, German-speaking Switzerland overwhelms the Latins considered as not very serious and womanizers (or this time of pants). But for its part, the French-speaking press is not very tender for its television either. “The RTS system is living its darkest hours,” writes The Geneva Tribune, while the Bon pour la tête site evokes “the gloomy underside of the RTS”. A question deserves to be asked: why Time, contrary to his habit, he spent several weeks to settle his account with Darius Rochebin, who had just left Swiss television, ahead of two other dailies, TheGeneva Tribune and The mail, who had also been investigating the ex-star of the small screen for a long time?
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