A 39-year-old Latvian man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for killing a 31-year-old Swiss man in Germany.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
He was found guilty of manslaughter by the court in Waldshut, Germany.
The accused confessed to the crime at a hearing, but did not explain his motive. The prosecutor had called for 14 years’ imprisonment, while the defence had argued for a sentence of 11.5 years’ imprisonment.
“We would have come to the same conclusion even without the defendant’s confession on Tuesday,” said the judge when announcing the judgement on Thursday. Based on the evidence, there was no doubt, he said.
The facts of the case date back to June 8 last year. According to the indictment, the Latvian, who was working in Germany as a labourer, hit the victim on the head with a log. The Swiss man, who lived in canton St Gallen, had been camping in the wild on the banks of the Rhine at Jestetten, near the Swiss border. He had wanted to spend the night there in a hammock.
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. You can find them here.
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.
Popular Stories
More
Life & Aging
Switzerland no longer wants to foot the bill for ‘suicide tourism’
As a Swiss Abroad, how do you feel about the emergence of more conservative family policies in some US states?
In recent years several US states have adopted more conservative policies on family issues, abortion and education. As a Swiss citizen living there, how do you view this development?
Geneva to host international talks on plastic pollution
This content was published on
A further round of negotiations to reach an international treaty to reduce global plastic pollution will take place in Geneva from August 5-14.
Switzerland extends list of sanctions against Russia
This content was published on
The government is thus adopting the changes decided by the European Union in response to Russia's ongoing military aggression in Ukraine.
Zelthangar plans to produce Spatz tents in Switzerland again
This content was published on
Zelthangar, based in canton Zurich, has purchased the traditional Swiss tent brand Spatz, which is particularly well-known among scouts.
Swiss sign human rights declaration for Women’s Euro 2025
This content was published on
Sports Minister Viola Amherd has signed a human rights declaration for the 2025 European Women's Football Championship in Switzerland.
Swiss parliament wants to expand support for asbestos victims
This content was published on
The expansion of financial support for asbestos victims by the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund has cleared its first parliamentary hurdle.
Extra month of Swiss pension can be paid out from end of 2026
This content was published on
The 13th monthly pension payment can be paid out from December 2026. However, it has not yet been decided how it will be financed.
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.