Graubünden authorities examine road closure for WEF strikers
Published: Tuesday, Oct 29th 2024, 12:50
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Following a federal court ruling, the Graubünden authorities are examining possible road closures for the strikers at the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos GR. According to last week's ruling, the authorities wrongly refused the Strike WEF group the use of the cantonal road in 2023. Instead, the demonstrators had to use footpaths.
In the meantime, two applications for a march rally have been received for the WEF in January 2025, the Graubünden government confirmed on Tuesday when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency. These would now have to be examined more closely following the Federal Supreme Court ruling.
According to the court, the complete relocation of the "winter hike" away from the cantonal road constituted a disproportionate interference with freedom of opinion and freedom of assembly. These fundamental rights would, to a limited extent, give the right to use public land for demonstrations with an appealing effect.
Conditions not met
According to the judges in Lausanne, the Graubünden Civil Engineering Office approved a demonstration along the cantonal road between Landquart and Klosters Platz in 2020. At the time, it stated that the main traffic and rescue axis between Landquart and Davos was the national road. The "closure" of the cantonal road between Landquart and Klosters for the rally was possible.
One of the conditions attached to the permit by the Civil Engineering Office at the time was that only the uphill half of the road could be used and that the passage of emergency vehicles and buses had to be guaranteed. In the event of an incident on the national road, the hiking group had to be diverted or stopped so that the cantonal road was available as a rescue route.
As government councillor Marcus Caduff (center) explained, the demonstrators did not adhere to these conditions at the time. However, they had failed to document this.
For the upcoming WEF, the extent to which the cantonal road could be closed for the strikers should now be examined with all the authorities involved.
©Keystone/SDA
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