Climate Activists Acquitted After Call for Refusal of Service
Published: Tuesday, Oct 10th 2023, 15:00
Actualizado el: Viernes, Oct 13th 2023, 14:12
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Three climate activists from the canton of Vaud who had called for military service refusal have been definitively acquitted. The Federal Prosecutor's Office (BA) announced on Tuesday that it would not appeal the verdict of the Federal Criminal Court from last July. The activists' lawyers welcomed the decision of the Federal Prosecutor's Office. They said that while this was an important victory for freedom of expression, it did not make up for the direct attack on freedom of expression that this case represented. The case left not only a high bill for the state, but also a feeling of waste due to disproportionate criminal steps.
The court acquitted the three young men, aged 21, 23 and 32, on July 27 of the charge of inciting violation of military service. The costs of the case were imposed on the federal government and the three activists were compensated for their legal costs. The defendants had initially been sentenced by the Federal Prosecutor's Office to conditional fines by means of a penalty order because they had published an article entitled "The Army, I Boycott" on the website of the climate strike in May 2020. They called for military service refusal "for ethical, moral, ecological and social responsibility". Later, an SVP politician filed a criminal complaint with the Federal Prosecutor's Office against unknown persons on suspicion of inciting violation of military service.nn
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