The health of cannabis farmer Bernard Rappaz does not warrant a pardon, the Federal Court in Lausanne has found.
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On Wednesday the court announced its decision to reject his latest appeal for a reprieve; Rappaz has been on a hunger strike.
The court said that there was no medical reason to grant a pardon and that Geneva University Hospital – responsible for Rappaz’s care – could re-nourish him if he ends his hunger strike.
Rappaz was sentenced to five years and eight months behind bars for various offences, including trading in cannabis.
He had to be hospitalised in mid-October as a result of hypoglycemia.
In November, the hospital filed a complaint regarding the Federal Court’s order to force feed Rappaz. The complaint is still pending.
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Cannabis farmer must serve his sentence
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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…
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At a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday, the doctor responsible for Rappaz said that his patient was 60 per cent more likely to die if force fed. The procedure would require him to be restrained and fed with a tube for a few days, which might injure him. Putting Rappaz into a coma could…
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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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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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