The March district court has now acquitted Josef Ender, René Bünter and yesterday, Thursday, Andreas Thiel. The costs are borne by the state.
VICTOR KÄLIN
The two opponents of the corona measures, René Bünter (Lachchen) and Josef Ender (Ibach, President of the Action Alliance of the Original Cantons), were accused of multiple disobedience to official orders because they did not take sufficient care at the Corona demo on November 21, 2020 in Lachen. that the prescribed distances between the participants were observed, that too many people would have gathered on the demo site on the Lachner Raffplatz and because they would not have insisted enough on compliance with the obligation to wear masks.
Comedian and satirist Andreas Christof Thiel, who appeared as a speaker at the time, was accused of “willful violation of the Epidemics Act by not wearing the protective mask in public space at the said rally”.
judgment without justification
The March district court has now acquitted the accused in two separate judgments: first Bünter and Ender, and yesterday, Thursday, it was also announced that Andreas Thiel had been acquitted. Thiel was accused of violating the mask requirement outside of his speech. The procedural costs of 1,290 francs and the defense attorney’s compensation of 4,140 francs are borne by the state treasury.
The defense attorney was Oswald Rohner from Einsiedeln, who was served with the verdict on Thursday. In the hearing on June 21, the lawyer made it clear that Thiel as a speaker was not required to wear a mask and that the accused was not a participant in the rally. The judgment contains no reasoning; such will only be issued if requested by a party to the proceedings or if an appeal is lodged against it.
Acquittals not yet final The third head of the Lachner demonstration in November 2020 has also been acquitted. A few days earlier, the March district court had also released Josef Ender as moderator and René Bünter as coordinator with an acquittal.
With these verdicts, all proceedings in connection with the rally have been discontinued or there have been acquittals, which are not yet final. Police investigations were carried out against eight speakers, including National Councilor Pirmin Schwander, for not wearing a mask during the speech, and several cases of this were reported to the public prosecutor’s office.
The procedural costs and legal fees add up to 19,680 francs, which are borne by the taxpayer.
“Muting” As National Councilor Pirmin Schwander said at the time, the criminalization of speakers aimed to muzzle critical spirits. According to Schwander, the Schwyz government councilor and security director Herbert Huwyler was the author and therefore primarily responsible. He would have “presented himself as an agitator and explicitly wanted to crack down on such peaceful rallies with all severity”.
As a result of the rally in Lachen, political meetings (such as in Einsiedeln, for example) were prevented “by completely excessive conditions”. The aim of the proceedings, according to Schwander, “was to obstruct political communication in order to suppress the resistance of the population to the disproportionate and illegal corona measures”.
“A gossip” Lawyer Oswald Rohner said of the acquittals: “A victory for the freedom fighters, a small step on the way back to the rule of law. A gossip for the public prosecutor’s office and the Schwyz government, which the public prosecutor’s office has abused for the persecution and criminalization of peaceful and freedom-loving citizens.”
After René Bünter and Josef Ender, Andreas Thiel (photo) has now also been acquitted.
Photos: zvg
On November 21, 2020, around 1,200 people took part in the Corona demonstration in the Märchler district capital of Lachen.
–
