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 UBS had withdrawn its criminal complaint in December.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.
Popular Stories
More
Foreign affairs
What Trump’s return or a new Harris administration would mean for Switzerland
Should raw milk sales be banned or should consumers decide?
Swiss food regulations do not allow raw milk to be sold for direct consumption. However, a loophole allows 400 raw milk vending machines to do just that.
This content was published on
One million francs, 34 million euros and around 830 kilos of gold: this is the fortune that two Swiss nationals are accused of having moved across borders for at least four years.
Girls in female-dominated classes earn more later on
This content was published on
At the age of 30, women from school classes with a 55% share of girls earn $350 more per year than women from classes with a 45% share of girls.
This content was published on
Geneva-based luxury goods group Richemont reported a downturn in performance for the first half of its 2024/25 financial year. Both sales and profit declined.
COP29: Swiss NGOs call for strong financial support
This content was published on
Ahead of COP29, Swiss NGOs call for wealthy nations to pay $1,000 billion a year to help other countries solve climate problems.
Real Swiss wages likely to rise in 2025, says UBS bank
This content was published on
Higher wages and falling inflation are likely to boost Swiss purchasing power, which will be dragged back by rising health premiums.
This content was published on
Switzerland has a new tectonic map at a scale of 1:500,000, containing updates to geometry, distribution and nomenclature of the tectonic units.
This content was published on
Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri, known for his artworks using leftover food with dirty cutlery and crockery, has passed away in Vienna at the age of 94.
Climate change tipped to alter Swiss avalanche patterns by 2100
This content was published on
Climate change is expected to result in fewer avalanches overall in Switzerland but to increase the danger of wet snow avalanches by 2100.
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.