No punishment for politician who smuggled cocaine into parliament

Luzi Stamm said he wanted to shake up politics Keystone

A Swiss parliamentarian who admitted taking a gram of cocaine and a suitcase full of counterfeit money worth €1 million (CHF1.1 million) into parliament will not face any legal consequences. 

In March Luzi Stamm, a lawyer and former judge, attracted considerable attention when he admitted buying one gram of cocaine from a busker in the streets of Bern and stashing it in the parliament building overnight. 

As for the money, the 66-year-old member of the rightwing Swiss People’s Party said the fake notes belonged to one of his clients but he refused to elaborate, citing attorney-client privilege. 

On Monday, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) issued a non-action order in connection with the counterfeit money. After preliminary investigations to determine whether criminal offences had been committed in Switzerland, the (OAG) said it had not initiated proceedings against Stamm. 

On his homepageExternal link, Stamm described the counterfeit money accusations as “completely out of place”. It was only a crime if someone imported counterfeit money in order to put it into circulation, he said. 

Publicity stunt 

Also without legal consequences is a complaint filed with the OAG by the Bern cantonal police against Stamm for drug possession. The Bernese prosecutor Markus Scholl confirmed that the proceedings against Stamm had been discontinued. 

Stamm said he had called the police the morning after taking the cocaine into parliament to report the incident. 

He explained it was a publicity stunt to shake up politics. He said he was shocked at how easy it was to get drugs in the middle of Bern. 

Stamm has been a member of the National Council since 1991. For the parliamentary elections in October Stamm is standing as an independent after the People’s Party didn’t nominate him.