Four Frenchmen sentenced to prison for Geneva nightclub assault
Sentences handed down by the criminal court in Thonon-les-Bains on Wednesday for an attack on five young women in Geneva in 2018 ranged from four to eight years. A fifth man was found not guilty.
This content was published on
1 minute
AFP/Keystone-SDA/gw/ds
In the early hours of August 8, 2018, a group of men attacked a woman outside a nightclub in Geneva. Four women who tried to help the victim were also attacked. All five, aged 22-33, were taken to the hospital, two with serious injuries, one of whom ended up in a coma.
The case sent shockwaves through Switzerland. The alleged assailants were later arrested in France and put on trial in Thonon-les-Bains, near the Swiss border.
After three and a half hours of deliberation, the court convicted four of the five French nationals. It threw out the aggravating circumstance of violence with a weapon, concluding there was “not enough evidence to establish with certainty that a weapon had been used” that night.
Two men, both aged 22, received sentences of eight years’ and five years’ imprisonment, respectively. A third man, aged 24, received four years. And the fourth, aged 24, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. The prosecution had sought sentences of five to 13 years, after describing the events outside the Geneva nightclub as a “war scene” of “unprecedented violence” with grave consequences for the victims, news agency AFP reported.
Swiss football boss wants crackdown on individual hooligans
This content was published on
The head of the Swiss Football League says he prefers a harsher approach to individual hooligans rather than collective punishment measures affecting all fans.
Amherd: Council of Europe is ‘as urgently needed as ever’
This content was published on
The Swiss government emphasised on Sunday the vital role of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, 75 years after it was founded.
Swiss minister: Italy will back Switzerland in EU talks
This content was published on
Bern can count on the backing of Italy as it re-enters talks with the European Union on future relations, Viola Amherd says.
Student protestors at University of Lausanne continue pro-Palestine sit-in
This content was published on
Since Thursday, a hall on campus has been occupied by students calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and a ceasefire in Gaza.
This content was published on
Swiss public broadcasters RTS and SRF are drastically reducing their communications via the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Israel: president of Swiss universities rejects academic boycott
This content was published on
Luciana Vaccaro, president of Swissuniversities, the umbrella group of Swiss universities, is not in favour of an academic boycott of Israeli universities.
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.
Read more
More
Arrests made in Geneva nightclub attack on women
This content was published on
Three men have been arrested in France as part of an investigation into a savage assault in Geneva last month on several women.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
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.