Swiss ex-banker linked with WikiLeaks found guilty but not jailed

A Swiss court found former banker Rudolf Elmer guilty on Wednesday of breaching strict banking secrecy laws by publicising private client data and of threatening an employee at his former firm Julius Baer.

But the court only sentenced him to a fine of 7,200 Swiss francs ($7,505), suspended for two years, compared to a prosecution demand for eight months in jail and a fine of 2,000 francs.

Elmer, who helped bring WikiLeaks to prominence three years ago when he used it to publish secret client information and who handed over new data to the website on Monday, had admitted sending confidential bank data to tax authorities.

But he had denied blackmail and a bomb threat against Julius Baer and said he never took payments in return for secret data.