Private plaintiff and victim testify in Geneva murder case
Published: Monday, Dec 9th 2024, 19:30
Updated At: Monday, Dec 9th 2024, 18:50
Back to Live Feed
Private prosecutors and victims had their say on Monday in the case of the murder of an Egyptian diplomat in Geneva in 1995. The Federal Criminal Court questioned a former girlfriend of the main defendant. She accused him of rape and deprivation of liberty. A colleague of the woman also testified.
Before the Federal Criminal Court, the first private prosecutor told how he once accompanied his colleague home. She had said at the time that she was being bullied by her ex-boyfriend. When they arrived, the defendant called him an "asshole" and threatened to kill him. He then pushed him down the front steps.
His colleague then told him that her former partner was a dangerous man who had been involved in various crimes and had boasted of having committed murder. Fearing for himself and his family, the colleague pressed charges because he believed in the rule of law in Switzerland.
In the late afternoon, the criminal chamber began questioning the woman who, according to the indictment, had been the victim of rape and deprivation of liberty by the accused. She explained that she is still fighting against the influence of the accused today.
Physical violence
Another friend of the defendant told the court how an argument about a car escalated once. The defendant had threatened her on the phone and had then come to break down her door. The woman stated that she was about to throw herself from the fifth floor.
She had panicked because of previous physical and psychological violence. "I was afraid he would hit me," she said. At her police interview in 2022, she had spoken of violence within the relationship, but did not give any details and did not press charges.
In tears, the witness told the Federal Criminal Court for the first time that she had been held captive in a café in Geneva. After an argument in the street, the defendant had taken her to the cellar, made her fall and beat her up. He accused her of having pilloried him, even though the murder trial was still ongoing.
Together again
Nevertheless, the couple got back together a few months later. "I always felt his presence," the woman explained. "I preferred having him close to me rather than feeling like I was being watched."
The car salesman, who has already been convicted in France and Switzerland, has been charged with murder, several rapes, simple assault, threats, depictions of violence and pornography. He also has to answer for various financial offenses. His 49-year-old co-defendant is facing charges of accessory to murder.
The trial will continue this week. (Case SK.2023.49)
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic