Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
It’s goodbye to former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has died aged 86, and legendary Swiss wrestler Christian Stucki, who has retired aged 38. One had considerably more legal woes with the Swiss authorities than the other.
In the news: UBS merges with Credit Swiss, police officers in court after the death of a black man, and migrants generally happy in Switzerland.
- Swiss bank UBS says it has completed its emergency takeover of embattled local rival Credit Suisse, creating a giant Swiss bank with a balance sheet of $1.6 trillion (CHF1.45 trillion) and greater muscle in wealth management. “This is the start of a new chapter – for UBS, Switzerland as a financial centre and the global financial industry,” UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti and Chairman Colm Kelleher said in an open letter published in Swiss newspapers today.
- Six police officers face homicide charges in a Swiss court case that opened today following the 2018 death of a black man from a heart attack after he was pinned, face-down, for several minutes during arrest. The case, which has some similarities with the May 2020 killing of George Floyd in the United States, is one of four where black men have died during police interventions in canton Vaud since 2016. They have sparked protests and calls for reforms.
- Almost two-thirds of people who move to Switzerland want to stay, according to an analysis by the Federal Statistical Office on international migration. In 2022, 41% of the permanent resident population aged 15 or over and born abroad said they had migrated to Switzerland for family reasons and 37% said they had come for professional reasons. The next two most frequently cited reasons were asylum (6%) and studies (4%).
Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has died aged 86, had a complex relationship with Switzerland. On the one hand he described it as his “second home” but he also complicated Italo-Swiss relations with demands of Swiss money.
Throughout his career, Berlusconi had several dealings with the Swiss justice system. In 2005, the Swiss Office of the Attorney General blocked about CHF140 million ($155 million) in the case of the slush funds of his audiovisual corporation, Mediaset.
The first request for mutual assistance in this affair was sent to Switzerland in October 1996. Berlusconi was accused of artificially increasing the price of film rights, purchased via front companies owned by him, at the time of their resale to his group. The prosecution alleged that almost €170 million (CHF165 million) had been placed in these slush funds, of which €140 million had been blocked in Switzerland – a measure confirmed on six occasions since then.
In May 2013, the affair led to the first definitive sentence for Berlusconi: four years in prison, three of which were lifted by amnesty. The former prime minister instead ended up carrying out his sentence in the form of one year of community service with elderly dementia patients. The money was finally released in 2016.
The Swiss Office of the Attorney General had also opened a money-laundering investigation against Berlusconi in 2005, after an Italian request. However, the proceedings were dropped in September of 2011 as most of the charges had exceeded the statute of limitations.
As for what the Swiss thought of Berlusconi, here is a round-up of Swiss media reaction to his death. The Swiss press didn’t pull any punches, accusing the flamboyant politician and media tycoon of using his power primarily to protect his own business interests.
Swiss wrestling legend Christian Stucki has ended his sparkling career on a high with his 44th festival victory. The 38-year-old “gentle giant” won the Seeland Festival at his home in Lyss, canton Bern.
The 5,000 seats in the arena had sold out ages ago, and everyone was getting ready to bid farewell to probably the most popular Swiss wrestler in history. All the other wrestlers were wearing wine-red Stucki shirts, and many spectators had T-shirts emblazoned with the wrestling king’s likeness and royal crown.
Stucki himself – all 1.98m (6’6”) and 150kg (330lb) of him – could hardly hold back the tears (pictured) when asked to tell Swiss television what had been going through his head all day. He got up bright and early for the last time on Sunday, he said, packed his sports bag for the last time, and went to the wrestling venue for the last time – by bike.
Stucki is a trained forest warden and has been working as a chauffeur since 2006. To date, he is one of only two wrestlers, along with Jörg Abderhalden, to have won all three major wrestling festivals (Kilchberger Schwinget, Unspunnenfest, Eidgenössisches). His career, which began in 2001 with his first win (he was 16 at the time), peaked in 2019 when he won the national championship, which is held every three years. That year he became the first Swiss wrestler ever to be named Swiss Sportsman of the Year.
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