In August 2017, Céline Pfister took her life away from her home in Spreitenbach (AG). She was not yet 14 years old. The teenager was the victim of cyberbullying.
On Wednesday, the Dietikon Juvenile Court (ZH) sentenced ex-boyfriend Céline Pfister, a 17-year-old Zurich man, to duress. The young man, aged 14 at the time of the events, had pressed the Argovian to send her photos of her naked body. He had threatened to relay suggestive images already in his possession if she did not do so.
The young man received a 7-day personal benefit. A sentence which is no more severe than that imposed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Minors in 2019. The victim’s parents, Nadya and Candid Pfister, opposed this decision. They criticized a penalty that was too lenient in their eyes and demanded that sexual coercion rather than mere coercion be retained. The Court did not follow them.
Uncommon for a trial involving minors, the hearing was partly open to the media. The Juvenile Court made an exception, finding that the issue of online mobbing was of public interest. Only the hearing of the accused was not public.
Céline Pfister committed suicide a week after a suggestive image of her ended up on the Snapchat social network, where nearly 500 people saw the photo. Her ex-boyfriend had transferred the photo to a jealous ex-girlfriend who was quick to distribute it. The latter had also bombarded Céline Pfister with threats and insults on social networks. The juvenile justice system in Zurich found her guilty by penal order of attempted threat and insult and sentenced her to a personal benefit.
Justice has not found a causal link between the acts of the two adolescents and the suicide, much to the despair of the parents of the victim. The Pfisters are arguing for the creation of a criminal standard on cyberbullying.
Created: 02/26.2020, 22h57
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