SWITZERLAND - All seven defendants in the Vera/Pevos trial have been officially confirmed as free men, as the public prosecutor had withdrawn his appeal against their acquittal.

No-one was found guilty on the charges of embezzlement, fraud and forgery of documents following the collapse of the Vera and Pevos Pensionskassen in 1996.

The 260-page verdict of the Solothurn regional court has now been published on the Swiss canton's website which makes the acquittals final.

Public prosecutor Matthias Welter confirmed to IPE he had filed an appeal but withdew it at the end of last month.

"After studying the verdict carefully, I found that the reasoning was comprehensible and I did not see any great chance of a change in the verdict by the supreme court," he explained.

The cost of the case and the lapse in time also played a part in that decision, he added.

In the written verdict, the court confirmed there was insufficient evidence to show the defendants had committed any criminal offence.

The judge noted this required defendants be acquitted so it was therefore not necessary to decide whether or not lapse of time could be cited as a reason not to appeal. (See earlier IPE article: Defendants acquitted in Vera/Pevos pensions trial)

The public prosecution office had first filed a case against six of the seven individuals now acquitted in 2004 and the seventh was later included in the trial.

The regional court had previously dismissed the case as "insignificant" and only tried the accused again after the high court in the canton ordered it to do so.

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Julie Henderson on + 44 (0)20 7261 4602 or email julie.henderson@ipe.com