An appeals court has cleared a Swiss parliamentarian found guilty of electoral fraud and granted him a financial compensation.
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The Bern Supreme Court on Wednesday said there was no evidence that the defendant, Ricardo Lumengo, filled out more than 40 ballot sheets with his name in an effort to win a seat in the cantonal assembly in 2006.
The verdict overturns a ruling by a lower court last November which handed down a suspended financial penalty.
Lumengo, who was born in Angola and fled to Switzerland in the 1980s, had maintained his innocence.
He argued he was showing potential voters how to take part in elections and had written his own name on ballot sheets to illustrate the procedure.
However, he had not cast the ballots.
Four years ago, the 49-year-old trained lawyer was elected to the federal parliament as a member of the centre-left Social Democratic Party.
It asked him to step down after the initial verdict, but Lumengo kept his seat as an independent representative.
It is not clear whether the prosecution will take the case to the Federal Court.
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Lumengo resigns from party after fraud verdict
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“I shall post my letter of resignation and my party card tomorrow,” Lumengo said in a statement on Tuesday. He added that the decision had not been easy, but that it was the best solution for him and for the party. Lumengo has appealed against the verdict passed by the local court in his home…
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On top of the two-year suspended penalty of more than SFr1,800 ($1,842), he will also have to pay a SFr540 fine and court costs of up to SFr15,702. The verdict was handed down by a local judge in the town of Biel on Thursday. Ricardo Lumengo was accused of filling in more than 40 ballot…
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Nowadays, election day is rather more sedate, with the country waiting for results already largely confirmed by exit polls. Civilised Geneva was notorious for political violence during elections. Votes were held in a building known as the “boîte à gifles” (roughhouse) because of the fights that broke out and the unsubtle methods of persuasion used…
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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.