Zurich city police have already shortened waiting times for encirclement
Published: Wednesday, Dec 20th 2023, 15:00
Volver a Live Feed
The Zurich city police had already adapted their approach to the encirclement of demonstrators before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) upheld the complaint against a police operation on May 1, 2011 on Tuesday. However, the police intend to continue with the encirclement itself.
Since the police operation at the time, the waiting time for identity checks has become significantly shorter, the city's security department announced on Wednesday. In the case of larger encirclements and identity checks, the city police keep the restrictions on the freedom of movement of those affected as short as possible and generally check their identity on the spot.
Only people who are initially suspected of having committed a crime or for whom there are grounds for police custody are taken to a police station, the report continues. The excessive restriction of freedom of movement criticized by the ECtHR is no longer relevant today.
However, as the ECtHR ruling does not fundamentally call into question the encirclement, but only the long duration and the taking to the police station, the police want to continue to use the encirclement in special situations, as stated in the press release.
Rights to freedom and security violated
On May 1, 2011, the police surrounded several hundred demonstrators in order to prevent an illegal rally. Two people who were arrested at the time and detained until the evening defended themselves against the treatment before the Federal Supreme Court and then appealed to the ECHR in Strasbourg.
On Tuesday, the ECtHR condemned Switzerland for the police operation. The encirclement and subsequent detention had violated the two demonstrators' rights to freedom and security. Switzerland was ordered to pay both of them compensation for non-material damage in the amount of 1000 euros as well as costs and expenses totaling 10,000 euros.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic