Lausanne and Vevey, Switzerland (Temps Present, TSR, Fre) – Securitas, one of Switzerland’s largest security firms, planted a woman for a year in the protest group Attac, to have her "spy" for the account of multinational Nestlé, according to a special report by a TSR investigative team. TSR’s "Temps Présent" aired the report Thursday evening. Using a false name, the employee had complete access to the group’s documentation and she participated in its meetings and information sessions around the time of the 2003 G8 summit in Evian, it appears.

Switzerland’s data protection and personal privacy laws are very strict, and at issue in this case is the question of whether security firms can offer investigative services that abuse private citizens’ and organizations’ rights. Private security is a growing business in Switzerland, as elsewhere, TSR points out, and it works closely with government authorities in several areas. Lausanne-based Securitas reportedly has 9,000 employees. Among its many mandates: it escorts asylum seekers who are sent back home, patrols CFF trains, and at the moment it has a large security role for the Euro 2008 games. The group is part of the Securitas group based in Sweden.

Attac, which will be holding a press conference Friday, told "Temps Présent" that it will file charges against the food giant, long a target of anti-globalization groups. Nestlé’s response to the accusations, reports TSR, is limited to saying it took a series of measures to boost security at the time of the G8 summit five years ago. Securitas, for its part, confirmed to the reporters that it has had, since the G8, an investigative service that is used by multinationals in the Lake Geneva region. Attac told the TSR team that it was preparing a book on Nestlé in 2003. The woman who was working for Securitas refused to appear in any Attac photos, but the group considered this her personal right.

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