Terror warning at Ringier: Conditional fine
A 43-year-old man was sentenced to a conditional fine by the Zurich District Court on Thursday for scaring the public and damaging property. He had called the Ringier media company anonymously and warned of acts of terrorism.
On January 21, 2015, two weeks after the bloody attacks in Paris, the man called Ringier Medienhaus in Zurich. He explained that there would be major unrest in Switzerland in the near future. Something "similar to Paris" could happen. The woman who took the call immediately informed the police. They deployed heavily armed special units. They cordoned off the area and surrounded the building. It was unlucky for the caller that he had not called with a suppressed number. He was arrested a few hours after the incident. He admitted that he had wanted to scare the Blick editorial team. He was charged with scaring the public. Because the man had demolished a cell during his detention, he was also charged with damage to property. The defense lawyer argued that the mentally disturbed man had only wanted to warn of danger, but had never made any threats. He therefore pleaded for acquittal.
Take the call seriously
However, the court was not convinced by this. It largely followed the prosecution. The accused's actions were to be understood as a serious threat. The terrible events in Paris had happened just two weeks ago. The employees of a newspaper were among the victims - "the call had to be taken seriously", said the presiding judge. The court attested that the Turkish man had a slight to moderate impairment of culpability. The mentally unstable man is said to have swallowed around two dozen tablets of a tranquilizer before the call. He had been feeling bad and had therefore wanted others to feel bad too. The crime was evidence of a reprehensible attitude on the part of the accused. However, his confession and remorse prompted the judges to impose a conditional fine and to waive a prison sentence. (SDA)
