Pressure increased to set up abduction alert
Parliament has called on the government to introduce a nationwide alarm system to help in the event of child abductions.
The House of Representatives on Monday followed the Senate in pushing for closer cooperation between cantonal authorities, the media, transport and telecommunication companies as well as victims’ organisations.
Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told parliamentarians the federal authorities and the 26 cantons had agreed at a meeting three weeks ago to set up an alarm system primarily in cases where minors are kidnapped.
The government, which initially wanted to leave it up to the cantons to take measures, had come under pressure to act following the kidnapping of a five-year-old girl in eastern Switzerland in 2007.
Last year a pressure group collected more than 32,000 signatures for a nationwide alert scheme.
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