Court acquits St. Gallen government council candidate
Published: Monday, Jan 22nd 2024, 10:41
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On Monday morning, the Werdenberg-Sarganserland district court acquitted the St. Gallen government council candidate Christof Hartmann (SVP) of charges of abuse of office. The opposing party lodged an appeal in the courtroom.
The single judge based her decision on the lack of evidence that the official authority had been deliberately abused. The decision is not legally binding and will be appealed to the next instance according to the plaintiff.
Hartmann and another former municipal councillor from Walenstadt SG had to stand trial for a decision made by the authorities in 2015. The original trigger was a neighbor dispute over a wall that had been the subject of several court cases for years.
The lawyer for the plaintiff property owner explained at the court hearing a week ago that the wall built in 1998 clearly protruded into his property and was built too high compared to the building permit, which both the St. Gallen Administrative Court and the Federal Court had found.
Municipal council decides against demolition
As the deputy mayor of Walenstadt at the time, Hartmann had co-signed a decree in 2015 stating that the wall did not have to be dismantled. This ultimately led to charges of abuse of office.
The judge at the Werdenberg-Sarganserland District Court declared that there was no "qualified misconduct". The court rulings at the time were not linked to a specific instruction to dismantle the plant. Such an order was only issued by the Administrative Court of the Canton of St. Gallen in 2018.
Nevertheless, the discretionary scope had been used or even exhausted in the municipal council decision under review. "Even if mistakes were made, there are no clear indications that the office was deliberately abused," said the judge during the oral pronouncement of the verdict.
Candidacy as member of the cantonal government
47-year-old Christof Hartmann is currently in the election campaign for a seat in the St. Gallen government. In December 2023, the SVP delegates' assembly nominated the cantonal councillor for the St. Gallen cantonal government. The elections will take place on March 3.
©Keystone/SDA
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