Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Zermatt restaurateurs who defied Covid measures released

Passersby with umbrellas, and wearing masks, walk past the restaurant
Police used concrete blocks to temporarily block the entrance to the Walliserkanne restaurant in Zermatt after it was closed and the owners were arrested for not respecting the Covid-19 law. Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

Three restaurateurs in Zermatt, who were arrested after repeatedly ignoring police orders to close their establishment, have been released. Their licence to operate has been suspended for a undefined period.

On Thursday, a court rejected a request by the public prosecutor to keep them in pre-trial detention for a month.

The three were arrested on Sunday after reopening their restaurant despite a police order to close it two days earlier. The police order had come after repeated inspections showed the restaurant had continually refused to implement Covid-19 rules, notably the checking of clients’ Covid certificates and the obligation to wear a mask indoors.

Following their arrest, the establishment in the mountain resort of Zermatt became a site for demonstrations by those opposed to Covid restrictions, including the Mass-Voll movement which has organised protests across the country. The case also has also spurred online debates in Switzerland, including with the revelation on Thursday that a graffiti on the wall of the restaurant clearly read “WWG1WA” (“where we go one, we go all”) – a slogan associated with the far-right QAnon movement.

After the arrest, the public prosecutor’s office had applied for pre-trial detention. The court did not rule out that – at least theoretically – the restauranteurs’ refusal to accept the restrictions could promote the spread of the Covid virus and therefore harm public health but this did not justify further detention.

Since the entry into force and subsequent extension of the Covid certificate requirement, the local police of canton Valais, where Zermatt is located, had inspected the restaurant several times and had reported the case to the public prosecutor’s office. This led to the opening of a criminal investigation.

More


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

No Swiss bank in phase with environmental objectives

More

Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF

This content was published on None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF
UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food.

More

Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

This content was published on The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

Read more: Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

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.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR