Category: Switzerland

For the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) and the lawyers for the private plaintiffs, one thing is clear in the trial against the former Gambian interior minister Ousman Sonko: Switzerland has criminal jurisdiction in all cases.

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On the second day of the appeal trial on Tuesday, the federal prosecutor and the representatives of the private plaintiffs were given the opportunity to comment on the several hours of statements made by Sonko’s lawyer the previous day. Once again, a central point was the question of Switzerland’s jurisdiction to prosecute the crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Sonko in The Gambia between 2006 and 2016.

On Monday, as part of preliminary proceedings, the defense spoke at length, challenging Switzerland’s jurisdiction to prosecute certain charges.

Both the OAG and the representatives of the plaintiffs referred to customary international law as well as to the first-instance judgment, in which the judges had declared themselves competent. Reference was also made to a previous case in which the Federal Criminal Court had dealt with the charge of crimes against humanity, namely the trial of the Liberian Alieu Kosiah.

Behind bars in Bern

Sonko was sentenced in 2024 to 20 years’ imprisonment for crimes against humanity committed while interior minister under Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who ruled Gambia with an iron fist between 1994 and 2016.

In 2016, Sonko reportedly fled to Sweden, where his asylum application was rejected. Because he still had a visa for Switzerland due to his professional activity, he travelled to the Alpine country and applied for asylum. 

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Foreign Affairs

Why Gambian ex-minister is on trial in Switzerland for crimes against humanity

This content was published on

Jan 9, 2024


Who was Ousman Sonko? What was the Gambian ex-interior minister doing in Switzerland? And why is this a “landmark” case? Here’s what you need to know.

Read more: Why Gambian ex-minister is on trial in Switzerland for crimes against humanity

The Geneva-based non-governmental organisation Trial International filed a legal complaint, and the Gambian was arrested. Several Gambian plaintiffs joined the case in Switzerland. 

Since the verdict, Sonko has remained in prison awaiting the appeal process.

Sonko’s conviction for crimes against humanity including homicide, torture and false imprisonment in May 2024 was historic since he was the highest-ranking former official ever to be tried in Europe using universal jurisdiction. This allows for the prosecution of the most serious crimes anywhere.

Translated from German by AI/jdp

This is what emerges from a new survey carried out by the Swiss Tenants Association (ASLOCA).

It reveals that nearly 40 percent of tenants spend more than one-third of their income on rent and are therefore “at risk for precariousness.”

An even higher number – 42 percent – qualify for a rent reduction due to the lower reference interest rate.

However, “only 5 percent of tenants have ever contested it,” ASLOCA said. “They don’t dare to assert their rights.”

Why is that?

Fear of losing their home plays a “decisive role,” for this lack of action, the survey shows.

According to ASLOCA, “this concern is well-founded, especially given that some lease terminations are actually part of speculative strategies aimed at increasing rents.”

Renters also fear damaging their relationship with their landlords.

“Tenants generally have to assert their rights while being in a dependent relationship with their landlords,” the association pointed out – meaning that they have little clout in this power imbalance and are therefore reluctant to ‘rock the boat’.

However, Swiss legislation grants tenants certain rights, including in regard to rent.

To contest the initial rent, they have a deadline of 30 days which begins to run on the day after they receive the keys. 

Once this period has elapsed, however, so has their right to challenge, so it is imperative to act quickly.

As far as existing rents are concerned, several situations allow tenants to seek rent reduction.

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Lower reference interest rate

Most rents in Switzerland are determined by the reference interest rate – an average of all interest paid on Swiss mortgages.

It is currently 1.25 percent.

If the rent is based on a higher rate, “tenants are generally entitled to demand a rent reduction of 2.91 percent if their rent is based on the [previous] rate,” according to the Federal Housing Office (BWO). 

Renovations

This kind of work – including repairing the facade, changing an elevator, installing double-glazed windows – will most likely result in nuisances such as  dust, noise, paint smell, lack of light, etc.

These nuisances constitute  a defect that restricts the use of the rented property and could be – based on the intensity and duration of the works – a basis for requesting a reduction in your rent. 

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Should you be afraid to ask for your rent to be reduced?

Many tenants are afraid to have their lease terminated or not renewed because they asserted their rights.

But you should know that your relationship with the owner(s) of your accommodation (and theirs with you) is defined by the law, not emotions, and all conflicts / disagreements  – whether about rent or other matters – must be resolved within the legal framework.

So if you get an eviction notice because you asked for your rent to be reduced, the law is likely to be on your side.

If the court decides that the eviction is nothing more than a revenge measure, then you are  protected against a termination for a period of three years.

However, this period can be shorter if the landlord really needs the apartment for important reasons, which depend on the discretion of the judge.

READ MORE: How to resolve a dispute with your Swiss landlord 

 

 

On Tuesday, the Montreux Jazz Festival unveiled the programme for its 60th edition and return to its iconic venues. Headlining the line-up from July 3 to 18: Nick Cave, Sting, RAYE, Moby, Deep Purple, The Roots, James Taylor, Van Morrison and Tyla and Conan Gray.

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“This is a special year for two reasons: we’re celebrating our 60th anniversary and our return to the Convention Centre,” festival director Mathieu Jaton told the media. After a two-year absence, audiences will be returning to the Festival’s two iconic venues at the brand-new Montreux Music & Convention Center (2M2C): the Auditorium Stravinski and the Montreux Jazz Lab. The 2M2C will also house a 1,000-seat Electro Club.

+ The house where jazz means more than music

For this 2026 edition, the 250,000 or so festival-goers expected to attend will have a choice of 67 concerts, including 39 Swiss exclusives. “The programme will be a crossroads of generations, styles and continents, bringing together emerging voices, icons of current pop culture and monuments of jazz, rock and hip-hop,” says the festival’s director.

Translated from German by AI/jdp

Über den Podcast «Der Fall»

Increasing numbers of people in Switzerland are buying firearms

A survey conducted by SRF public broadcaster reveals a 10 to 30-percent increase in firearm acquisition permits in 2025. 

Authorities, however, are not concerned about this trend.

According to Karin Kayser-Frutschi, president of the Conference of Cantonal Directors of Justice and Police, “the uncertainty of the global situation partly explains this continued increase.”

However, what’s important isn’t the number of permits, but who they’re issued to and under what conditions the weapons are used, she said.

There is no need for concern though, Kayser-Frutschi pointed out. because Switzerland’s firearms legislation “is rigorously applied.”

Government warns of yet another scam being perpetrated in Switzerland

This latest one concerns supermarket loyalty points – Coop’s Supercard and Migros’ Cumulus.

According to the Federal Office for Cybersecurity (BACS), victims have received an email or text message – supposedly from one of the two retail chains – alerting them to soon-to-expire loyalty points, with instructions on how to redeem them as quickly as possible for rewards like bicycles, household appliances, or other items. 

The message seems genuine, except that at the very end, recipients are asked to provide credit card details.

The BACS is warning consumers not to trust such messages, while Coop and Migros point out that their fidelity point s“never expoire.”

This is just the latest in a long line of frauds perpetrated online by scammers in (often successful) attempts to extort money from unsuspecting victims.

READ MORE: Swiss government warns of a new scam targeting job seekers 

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Driver caught smuggling baklava into Switzerland

What is it with people attempting to bring baked goods across Swiss borders without declaring them at customs?

Only a few months ago, an Italian national was caught at a border crossing in Ticino with 66 pannettones he was bringing illegally into Switzerland. 

And on Monday, the Federal Office of Customs and Border Protection (BAZG) stopped yet another smuggler: a Turkish man, driving a car with Swiss licnse plateds, was trying to sneak in 270 kg of undeclared blaklava from Germany – ostensibly for personal consumption. 

The man was slapped with a several-hundred-franc fine, in addition to a customs duty, BAZG said.

 

If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at news@thelocal.ch

 

The Madrisa Solar photovoltaic system produced more electricity than forecast in its first winter. According to the energy company Repower, the Graubünden plant is the first Alpine solar power plant in Switzerland.

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The plant generated around 1.5 gigawatt hours of electricity in the winter period from October to March, the energy company Repower announced on Tuesday. Around 3,600 solar modules were in operation during this period, which corresponds to around 20% of the planned total plant.

The aim is to connect around 70% of the plant to the grid by November. The largest construction phase of the project will begin at the start of May with full commissioning expected by the end of 2027.

Plant designed for winter electricity

The plant is located at around 2,000 metres above sea level and is designed for high winter power generation. After the first snowfall, the output increased by around 15% thanks to the reflected light. This was made possible by so-called bifacial solar modules, which produce electricity on both sides.

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Climate adaptation

Switzerland sees battery boom as homes and firms store more solar power

This content was published on

Mar 25, 2026


A rapid but mostly invisible energy transformation is taking place in Switzerland: households and businesses are installing batteries at record pace, rising roughly 400% over the past four years.

Read more: Switzerland sees battery boom as homes and firms store more solar power

The electricity produced is used by Elektrizitätswerke des Kantons Zürich (EKZ) and Bergbahnen Klosters-Madrisa. Together with their own systems, the mountain railways have generated more energy than they need to operate during the winter season, Repower added.

The plant was built by Madrisa Solar AG. Repower, EKZ and the municipality of Klosters each hold a one-third stake in the company. The total investment amounts to CHF70 million ($87 million).

Two other large Alpine solar plants are currently being built in Graubünden as part of the federal government’s Solar Express programme: NalpSolar by Axpo and SedrunSolar by Energia Alpina. Both are located in the municipality of Tujetsch in the Surselva region. Madrisa Solar was the first of these plants to be connected to the grid last September as part of the Solarexpress programme.

Translated from German by AI/jdp

Easter is here and many people living in Switzerland will enjoy an extended weekend. In Switzerland – with the exception of the national holiday on August 1st – the public holidays that do not fall on a Sunday are determined by the cantons.

If a public holiday happens to fall on a weekend, it’s tough luck – it will not be moved to a working day (unlike, for instance, in the UK).

But where in Switzerland do you get both Good Friday and Easter Monday off work during Easter, and which canton does not grant you any free time at all to partake in festivities? And there’s one canton in Switzerland where workers enjoy a 5 day break because they also get the Maundy Thursday off too.

Five day break?

Workers in the small German-speaking canton of Glarus are the luckiest in Switzerland when it comes Easter. They can take a 5-day break because they are the only canton where the Thursday before Easter is also a public holiday.

Good Friday, April 3rd

Almost all Swiss cantons recognise Good Friday as a public holiday apart from Ticino and Valais.

So workers in the following cantons get Good Friday off: Argau, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Basel-Country, Basel-City, Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Glarus, Grisons, Jura, Lucerne, Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Uri, Vaud, Zug and Zurich.

There is also hope for some workers of certain companies based in Ticino and Valais given that most stores and banks will remain closed – despite Good Friday not being recognised as a public holiday.

Ticino is after all a majority Catholic canton (around 70 percent of its population is of the Catholic faith) and for devout Catholics, Good Friday – while a strict day of fasting and abstinence – is not considered a holiday.

READ ALSO: Why is Ticino Switzerland’s favourite Easter destination?

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Easter Monday, April 6th

Easter Monday is officially a day off across Switzerland apart from in the cantons of Valais, Neuchatel, Solothurn and Zug.

However companies in these cantons may still give their workers the day off.

If you live in Valais…too bad!

The canton of Valais is in fact the only of Switzerland’s 26 cantons to not give its workforce any time off during Easter — at least by law. Different companies may of course decide to give them a day off anyway. 

But that isn’t to say that there isn’t anything Easter-related going on. From moulding chocolate bunnies to egg hunts, and markets to workshops, Valais has a packed agenda this Easter – you’ll just have to do it at the weekend. 

Terminally ill residents in Swiss canton Lucerne should no longer have to leave hospital for assisted euthanasia. On Monday the cantonal parliament voted in favour of assisted dying being regulated by law in both retirement homes and hospitals.

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On Monday, parliament passed a motion by Sara Muff from the centre-left Social Democratic Party by 81 votes to 27. The question of whether – as proposed by the cantonal government – hospitals should be exempted from assisted dying was particularly contentious among the centre-right and conservative groups.

In her motion, Muff called for a legal framework for external assisted suicide in all public health and social care institutions. Self-determination over one’s own life should apply until the end of life and for everyone, regardless of where they are, she said.

Today, many care homes have their own guidelines on assisted dying. Residents of nursing homes or social care facilities do not have the same access to this everywhere as people living at home, said Health Director Michaela Tschuor (Centre Party) in the cantonal parliament.

Tschuor therefore advocated for equal access to external assisted dying support in care and support facilities to be regulated by law. She wanted to exclude hospitals from this. Their remit lies in healing, care and the alleviation of suffering, she said.

+ Why Switzerland will not monitor assisted suicide tourism

Muff did not agree with this. Hospitals are also places where people die, said Muff. That is why self-determination at the end of life should apply there too. It should not be the case that someone who is at the end of their life has to leave hospital to die.

Thomas Gfeller from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party agreed with Muff. The path outlined by the government was not a compromise, but rather cemented the problem, he said.

Mario Cozzio from the centrist Liberal Green Party also spoke in favour of referring the entire motion. However, freedom should apply to both sides, he said. People at the end of life should be able to decide for themselves, but the same should also apply to staff in the institutions.

+ Suicide ‘pod’ controversy adds pressure on Swiss euthanasia rules

For Karin Andrea Stadelmann (Centre Party), assisted dying in hospital also has its place. In palliative care, she said, the focus is no longer on healing but on care.

Lisa Zanolla (People’s Party) and Hannes Koch from the left-wing Green Party also stated that there are situations in hospitals where assisted dying should be possible on site. Priska Fleischlin (Social Democratic Party) said that for people who are suffering, dying is a relief and a beautiful thing.

Fleischlin explained that “wishing to die” is already possible in hospitals today, for example by forgoing life-prolonging measures. In hospitals, however, unlike in assisted dying, the focus is on alleviating suffering, not on shortening life.

Stephan Schärli (Centre Party) and Sibylle Boos-Braun (centre-right Radical Liberal Party) supported the government’s stance. Schärli said hospitals should not be forced to offer something that contradicts their fundamental mission. Boos feared that assisted dying could also create difficult situations for hospital staff.

Gerda Jung (Centre Party) and Jasmin Ursprung (People’s Party) argued in favour of rejecting the motion entirely. Care homes should be able to decide for themselves on the issue of assisted dying, said Ursprung. A uniform cantonal regulation would add no value.

Adapted from German by AI/ts