Nude hiker acquitted
A man charged with “indecent behaviour” for hiking naked in the mountains in 2009 has been acquitted by a court in Appenzell Outer-Rhodes.
The cantonal court ruled that the charge was baseless and lifted the SFr100 ($87) fine that he had refused to pay.
The state will cover the legal fees amounting to around SFr870.
The 46 year old was reported to police by a woman who saw him walking naked in the mountains in October. He is the first person to have been tried in the canton over nude hiking.
The matter came to court after the man refused to pay the SFr100-franc fine. He told the court he had been walking naked for two years.
Canton Appenzell Inner-Rhodes is the first canton to have banned naked rambling. Two cases there are currently pending.
swissinfo.ch and agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
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.