Inpatient measure for Syrians living in Switzerland
Published: Wednesday, May 29th 2024, 17:00
العودة إلى البث المباشر
The Federal Criminal Court has sentenced the Syrian man living in Switzerland who threatened the editorial staff of "Charlie Hebdo" to inpatient treatment. In addition, the man will be banned from the country for five years following his release. The 30-year-old was diagnosed with a severe mental disorder and was found to be incapable of culpability.
The court considered it proven that the accused had committed the offense of attempted coercion in a state of incapacity. According to a psychiatric report, the 30-year-old was inculpable at the time of the offense, the presiding judge explained the decision. The man suffers from severe chronic paranoid schizophrenia.
Due to the severity of the illness, the risk of further offenses was high. For this reason, an inpatient measure in a closed institution was necessary, the judge explained. The order was also in the interests of the accused himself.
"No signs of integration"
She went on to say that there were no signs that the accused wanted to integrate into Swiss society or had tried to do so. Due to his "religious fanaticism", he had lost teaching and employment positions and lived on social welfare.
The man himself had repeatedly expressed the wish to leave for a Muslim country. This testified to the fact that he did not want to remain in Switzerland. Even after any successful therapy, the risk of reoffending remains high, said the judge. The public interest in deportation should therefore be considered to be greater than the defendant's interest in remaining in Switzerland.
In the present case, there is no indictment "in the classic sense", said the federal prosecutor in his plea. It is about a man who primarily requires urgent psychiatric treatment. Everyone agreed on this, including the accused himself, who had applied for early execution of measures.
Repeatedly armed
Before the pleadings, the presiding judge asked both parties to comment on the question of a possible expulsion from the country. The man was a "real threat" to the public, said the federal prosecutor.
There is an "increased public interest in the accused being expelled from the country if he is released from the measure one day". The man had repeatedly attracted attention through threats of violence. He had also repeatedly armed himself.
The offense was not of "very great gravity", the public prosecutor continued. However, it should also be possible to expel people who are not guilty of the offense. The Office of the Attorney General had therefore called for inpatient therapeutic measures and an optional ten-year ban from the country. The private plaintiff - the publisher of "Charlie Hebdo" - was not present at the trial.
Family of the accused lives in Switzerland
The accused has suffered from a mental illness since childhood, the defense lawyer explained in court. The man's actions should therefore be assessed "solely in the light of his mental condition", even if objectively there was attempted coercion.
The 30-year-old has had the status of a temporarily admitted refugee since 2013, which speaks against an optional expulsion from the country. In addition, he could not return to his home country as he would not be able to cope due to his illness. Furthermore, his family lives in Switzerland.
At the beginning of the trial, the defendant had refused a translator. He justified his decision by saying that the translator did not want to say whether he was a devout Muslim.
The defendant repeatedly disrupted the trial. He interrupted both the public prosecutor and his defense lawyer and at times did not answer questions. When it was his turn to have the so-called "last word" in the trial, he said: "This court is incompetent."
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