Climate activists acquitted over bank protest action
Five environmental activists have been acquitted by a Basel criminal court of charges relating to protest action that blocked access to a UBS bank building in Basel in 2019. For some charges, there was insufficient evidence, the judge said.
This content was published on
1 minute
Keystone-SDA/SWI swissinfo.ch/ilj
The protestors had been appealing fines handed down by the Basel justice authorities for charges that included trespassing, causing damage to private property and breach of the peace. The charge of breach of the peace was dropped at the beginning of the trial. UBS had withdrawn its criminal complaint in December.
Handing down her verdict, the judge said that she considered there to be no charges in relation to the peaceful demonstration. Criminal damage was unproven for four of the five defendants and very small in the case of the fifth, the judge said.
On July 8, 2019 activists blocked the main entrance to UBS in Basel to protest against investments and projects they considered damaging to the climate and the environment. They had also daubed coal on the building’s façade and left branches outside the entrance.
Activists in Zurich also blocked the entrance to the main Credit Suisse bank headquarters in what was a coordinated day of action. More than 80 people were arrested in Zurich and Basel as a result.
In reaction to Friday’s judgement, the Collective Climate Justice group saidExternal link that it hoped that the acquittal would also be extended to the around 50 other activists concerned by court proceedings.
First large-scale alpine solar plant approved in Switzerland
This content was published on
The approval was met with satisfaction by the project's organisers, but it also brings with it a certain amount of pressure.
Medieval squirrels may have ‘helped spread leprosy’
This content was published on
An examination of squirrel remains in the United Kingdom has opened up interesting questions and possibilities in terms of the history of the disease.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
This content was published on
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
This content was published on
The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
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
Climate protestors take their case to court
This content was published on
Environmental activists have announced they will challenge in court their summary punishments for blocking access to Swiss banks last week.
This content was published on
The act of protest coincided with the start of the summer holidays and was tolerated because it did not disrupt flight operations, according to airport spokesman Philipp Bircher, who was cited by Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA. The airport had been informed of the protest plans beforehand. According to Stefan Oberlin of the Zurich Cantonal Police,…
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.