Zurich judge barred from ruling on climate activists
A judge at the District Court of Zurich is no longer allowed to rule on climate protection activists. The Federal Court has declared him biased on the grounds that he had shown solidarity with them.
The judge had acquitted a climate activist of the group “Extinction Rebellion” in September 2022. The trial was triggered by a street blockade erected in Zurich’s city centre.
At the opening of the judgement, the judge told the defendant not to be intimidated. “Keep up the good work,” he said. He also told her children that they “can be proud of their mum”.
More
More
Rebellious (but pragmatic) climate movements
This content was published on
Mistrust of the political is strong among climate activists. But the connection to institutional politics is less dogmatic than previous generations.
In its ruling published on Friday, the Federal Court concluded that the judge had shown solidarity with the climate activists. In doing so, he had consciously or unconsciously created the impression that his freedom to form an opinion could be impaired – also in future, similar cases.
The request to remove the judge from trials against climate activists originated from the Zurich public prosecutor’s office.
Adapted from German by DeepL/kc/ts
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Switzerland may triple tuition fees for foreign university students
This content was published on
Foreign students at ETH Zurich and EPFL may soon have to pay at least three times as much as Swiss students in tuition fees.
Female climate activists could report Switzerland to Council of Europe
This content was published on
The KlimaSeniorinnen association (the Climate Senior Women) is urging the Swiss government to respect the European court’s recent decision.
Horizon Europe is partially open again to researchers in Switzerland
This content was published on
With renewed negotiations with the EU Commission, and thanks to CHF600 million in federal funds, Swiss researchers can again apply for some grants.
This content was published on
Swiss political parties want to ban Hamas and classify it as a terrorist organisation in Switzerland, which would prevent financing and propaganda activity.
Swiss public prosecutor calls for Tariq Ramadan to be jailed for rape
This content was published on
A three-year prison sentence for Tariq Ramadan is being demanded for the rape of a woman in a hotel room in Geneva in October 2008.
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.