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Mr. Elmer is in prison because he has gucci outlet revealed a criminal offshore system of tax evasion in which Swiss banks play a leading role," Assange was quoted as saying in an interview.

"Instead of investigating these offshore structures and going after the tax evaders, the authorities are going after Mr. Elmer," he said.

The newspaper, quoting Assange in German, said it had received his comments via a WikiLeaks intermediary.

In a separate case, Elmer was also convicted on Jan. 19 of breaching banking secrecy by passing on private client data to the tax authorities and of threatening employees at his former firm Julius Baer (BAER.VX). [ID:nLDE70J1RI]

Elmer has appealed against this verdict.

Swiss media have speculated that the data Elmer handed to WikiLeaks on Wednesday concerned Julius Baer operations in the Cayman Islands, where Elmer had headed its operations, and are therefore not covered by laws protecting Swiss banking secrecy.

Switzerland's bank secrecy helped it build a $2 trillion wealth management industry but the laws have come under intense global attack in recent years, with neighbouring Germany buying secret data from informants to track down tax evaders.

"Elmer's arrest makes it more urgent to examine his banking data and publish them as soon as possible," Assange said.