"Shock for us all" Former National Councillor Fathi Derder (54) is dead

Fathi Derder, a well-known journalist in French-speaking Switzerland, died on Saturday evening at the age of 54. The Vaud native was also a member of the National Council for the FDP from 2011 to 2019.

"It is with great sadness that I inform you of the death of our colleague Fathi Derder, who passed away at the weekend," wrote RTS television in French-speaking Switzerland in a letter to its employees on Monday. "This news comes as a shock to us all and my thoughts are above all with his family, loved ones and friends in these extremely painful moments," it continued.

Derder spent the majority of his journalistic career at RTS, where he presented the flagship programs "La Matinale" and "Forum" in particular. He also managed the Vaud-Fribourg private broadcaster La Télé from its launch in summer 2009 until the end of 2010.

He then went into politics and was elected to the National Council as a member of the Free Democrats. He then headed the business newspaper "L'Agefi" from 2017 to 2018 before returning to RTS in 2022.

Derder was born in Lausanne to an Algerian father and a mother from Valais. He had four children from two different relationships.

SDA