The parliament of canton Valais has decided against granting local cannabis farmer Bernard Rappaz a pardon from his prison term.
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Rappaz, who is on a hunger strike, was sentenced to five years and eight months behind bars for various offences, including trading in cannabis.
The cantonal parliament, sitting behind closed doors in Sion on Thursday, decided by 113 votes to 14 against his request.
The Rappaz case has received high media attention in Switzerland, in particular because of the dilemma faced by the authorities.
The Federal Court, Switzerland’s highest instance, has ruled that Rappaz should be force fed if necessary, whereas Geneva University Hospital doctors refuse to do this, citing both medical and ethical grounds.
Rappaz was in hospital after a hunger strike earlier this year and was later placed under house arrest before an appeal was rejected. He was subsequently returned to prison, but had to be hospitalised again in mid-October as a result of hypoglycemia.
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A hunger strike divides Switzerland
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Doctors have refused orders from the authorities to force feed him, turning the case into a modern Greek tragedy, one Swiss newspaper, the Tages-Anzeiger, wrote last week. In the latest twist to the story, on Tuesday the Federal Court rejected Rappaz’ appeal for his imprisonment to be suspended. Across Switzerland, everyone is talking about the…
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Bernard Rappaz is now in Bern’s Insel hospital and doctors have been told by Esther Waeber-Kalbermatten, a member of the Valais government who is responsible for the dossier, to force-feed him to keep him alive. She made the decision after consultation with the Swiss Federal Court in Lausanne, which is to consider an appeal by…
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Bernard Rappaz, 49, who had been on a hunger strike for more than 70 days, was jailed last November after police raided his cannabis farm in Charrat in the Valais and seized 50 tons of marijuana and other cannabis-based products. He was being held in the prison unit of a Geneva Hospital. The cantonal court…
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Swiss tobacco production is on the decline; only about 400 farmers still grow this labour-intensive crop. Most of them are in the Broye Valley stretching across cantons Vaud and Fribourg. Their production covers only a small share of the tobacco consumed in Switzerland. (Text and images, Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch)
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.