"A mise en scène of lies," Lunghi lawyer says as trial passes third day

The prosecutor began his requisition on Wednesday, declaring there was unlikely to be a winner emerging from this case. The accusations were listed one by one, as four people have appeared in court since Monday to respond to allegations of slander, defamation, and involuntary bodily injury in the form of "mental health problems" by Lunghi.

The representative of the public prosecutor's office said a number of things in the televised report at the heart of the case were "technically not clean", addressing the creator and former RTL journalist Marc Thoma, and intimated the latter should have known better with his long career and experience. The prosecutor said it was no coincidence that the report turned out the way it did, and that it aimed to suggest a message to viewers which did not necessarily reflect reality.

The prosecutor also asked why no one intervened when Enrico Lunghi allegedly displayed aggression towards the former RTL journalist Sophie Schram, pointing out that a cameraman and two students had been present on the day when Lunghi was alleged to have grabbed Schram by the arm and shoved her during the interview.

During the trial, there was much discussion regarding the injury for which Schram sought hospital treatment 11 days after the incident. She was signed off work for two days as a result; yet none of her colleagues had been informed of her injury after the incident took place, with the exception of Marc Thoma. Nearly two weeks after the interview, Schram arrived in the office with a bandage, at which point she visited the director and asked to file a complaint against Lunghi.

Next, there was the question of responsibility for the dissemination of the report. The prosecutor recommended that Steve Schmit, the head of the programme, be acquitted of all charges, after he told the court that Schmit had argued against airing the report in its current form, but had been overruled by director Alain Berwick.

However, the prosecutor also believes Berwick should be acquitted, as he had given the report the go ahead despite only watching the raw footage, rather than the edited product. The prosecutor argued this was somewhat irrational and had created an atmosphere in which Marc Thoma felt free to edit the report, leading to its current state.

Enrico Lunghi then constituted himself as a civil party. Lunghi's lawyer said the matter was "a mise en scène of lies" and that the story constructed around the report would not hold much sway. He said he viewed Berwick as partly responsible, arguing that he actively interfered in the process for the dissemination of the report.

What is the 'Lunghi Case'?

In October 2016, RTL journalist Sophie Schram interviewed the then director of the Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art (MUDAM), Enrico Lunghi, for the programme Den Nol op de Kapp. When Schram asked Lunghi why he refused to exhibit paintings by a certain Luxembourgish artist, the director lost his cool. The footage broadcast on TV showed Lunghi pacing back and forth before grabbing Schram by the wrist in which she held her microphone and declaring "Seriously, if you broadcast this, I will never talk to you again."

However, it was later revealed that the footage had been edited in a questionable manner. The edited version omitted both the fact that Schram had repeatedly asked the same question and that the interview actually continued for several minutes after the incident. The original footage, which was eventually made public, even showed that Lunghi had apologised for his behaviour. It also revealed that Lunghi and Schram were not strangers but had known each other for a long time.

The affair had significant fallout, leading to the resignation of Enrico Lunghi as MUDAM director and Alain Berwick as director general of RTL. Berwick as well as the then head of programming Steve Schmit, the creator of the original report, Marc Thoma, and Schram have been sued for slander, defamation, and involuntary bodily injury in the form of "mental health problems" by Lunghi.