Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad
"Why should I be ashamed to show myself? He should be the one who should be ashamed of what he did to me."
The words of 18-year-old Paula resonate like a message of courage addressed to all victims of sexual assault. By testifying before the press, the young woman and her mother, who accuse a former politician of drugging and then sexually abusing them, want to give a face to those who suffer such violence.
However, their fight is far from over. The two women are now at risk of being deported from Switzerland. A situation that has provoked reactions in the political sphere.
Best regards
The sordid case of a former Swiss People’s Party member of the Aargau parliament, accused of drugging and sexually abusing several women, has provoked political reactions. Two of the victims, Paula and her mother Iwona, gave their testimony to the Tamedia newspapers.
Paula regained consciousness in the middle of the night. Someone was in her bed. “It was like a dream, it was unreal. And then I realised that [he] was lying on top of me,” she says. The former member of the Aargau parliament is said to have drugged Paula more than 40 times between the ages of 14 and 15 and to have sexually abused her for a total of 40 hours. He is also accused of sexually assaulting her mother who was his partner at the time, as well as another woman.
In addition to being his partner, Iwona worked as a domestic help for the accused. After his arrest, the two women of Polish origin applied for social welfare in their municipality of residence. The latter granted them the bare minimum and reported them to the cantonal migration office. They now risk being expulsed from the country.
It is precisely the treatment of victims that is now the subject of political debate. The Social Democratic Party plans parliamentary interventions and believes that Paula and Iwona should be recognised as hardship cases. The Swiss People’s Party, on the other hand, says it is an isolated case. “This case does not reveal a loophole that should be closed,” says parliamentarian Barbara Steinemann.
In an interview with Blick, the Swiss ambassador to the Middle East, Monika Schmutz Kirgöz, discusses the possibilities for peace in the Middle East. She also talks about Switzerland’s role.
Despite the resumption of hostilities between Iran and the United States, Switzerland’s ambassador to the Middle East, Monika Schmutz Kirgöz, sees positive signs. “At the moment, the various actors remain in contact through multiple channels. All of them are trying to prevent a new escalation,” she observes. She emphasises that a war serves no one’s interests.
“Switzerland has invested enormously in maintaining channels of dialogue, especially between the United States and Iran,” says the head of the Middle East and North Africa Division at the foreign ministry. She said new talks should be held around the 14-point memorandum between the United States and Iran, but she did not give a date.
The diplomat also says that the protecting power mandate between the United States and Iran is still working. She cites the example of prisoner exchanges: “Releases of American citizens have been made possible or accompanied through Switzerland.” However, she points out that much of Switzerland’s work takes place in the shadows: “This is classic discreet diplomacy. It is part of the long term, without a megaphone.”
The Swiss Federal Audit Office has criticised the Radical Liberal Party for the opaque management of its political financing. It demands that the party take action.
Such harsh remarks are unusual for the Swiss Federal Audit Office. In a report published last week, the federal finance watchdog said that the “transparency required vis-à-vis the public” was not guaranteed during the campaign on the Young Socialists initiative on inheritance tax, nor during the campaign on the e-ID law.
The audit office notes “considerable shortcomings” and considers that the party’s accounting practices remains questionable. It asked the party to review its internal processes. This is not the first time that the Radical Liberal Party has been called to order. Last year, it underreported its 2024 revenues by CHF3.2 million (CHF3.4 million instead of CHF6.6 million).
The audit office also criticises the Swiss Business Federation and the Protestant Party, but for less significant shortcomings. The two organisations only submitted their campaign budgets after the votes. The Swiss Business Federation had committed CHF170,000 against the inheritance tax initiative, while the Protestant Party had spent CHF150,000 against the e-ID. These amounts far exceed the legal declaration threshold of CHF50,000, the audit office points out.
The Jungfrau Railways wants to transform Eiger Glacier from a simple transfer station at the foot of the Eiger into a real tourist destination. A project that is opposed by local residents and nature protection associations.
The company plans to build a 200-seat Asian restaurant and an immersive museum dedicated to the mythical north face of the Eiger. Today, Eiger Glacier mainly serves as a transit point for visitors on their way to the Jungfraujoch, one of the busiest tourist spots in the Swiss Alps.
“Visitors want to “climb” and experience the most difficult routes to the top themselves. This is precisely what an experiential museum would allow,” says Oliver Hammel, managing director of the Jungfrau Railways. According to him, it is not a question of attracting more tourists, but of improving their experience there.
Nature conservation organisations dispute this view. They accuse the company of practicing a “salami tactic”, consisting of multiplying expansion projects in stages without revealing their full extent from the start. The Grindelwald municipal assembly also rejected a land exchange with Lauterbrunnen, which was necessary for the construction of the museum.
Translated from French, sub-edited by Anand Chandrasekhar
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