Eradicate the drug deal on the street. Since the filmmaker Fernand Melgar threw himself into the battle with the help of controversial images of coke sellers near Lausanne schools, the theme has rebounded in the political field. At the Grand Council, in October 2019, the right led by the PLR narrowly passed the idea of a cantonal initiative to be submitted to the Federal Chambers with the aim of toughening the Swiss drug law.
According to this proposal, the dealers who act in the public space endanger a large population. There is no longer any question of seeing them escape from prison. And if they reoffend, a minimum sentence of 6 months must apply.
The pink-green majority Council of State now presents the text which will be transmitted to Bern, if the deputies validate it. He does so reluctantly, pinching his nose, to the point of renouncing the usual “notice.” The main reason is that the Public minister, headed by an attorney general, Eric Cottier, yet close to the PLR, disapproves of the right’s proposal.
Questionable concept
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, “it does not make sense to sentence an author to a different punishment depending on whether he acted in public space or not”. The notion of public space could in itself cause disagreements. But above all, “the sales of narcotics committed in private spaces concern quantities of drugs far greater than street traffic, with sellers or resellers occupying higher positions in the hierarchy of traffickers, and holding stocks clearly larger than the petty street dealer who only has a few dumplings at a time. ” In summary, writes the prosecution, “the initiative only concerns the” tip of the iceberg “that constitutes the street deal”.
The initiative’s minimum sentence would also be contrary to the spirit of the Swiss sanctions system. “The minimum penalties are generally provided in the presence of aggravating objective elements, the achievement of which must be the intention of the author (gang, profession, use of a weapon), which would be questionable for the deal in the public space ”, notes the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Risk of unequal processing
To justify a shared skepticism, the Council of State ranks behind another argument of the Public Prosecutor concerning the minimum punishment: “It would have the effect of depriving the judge of part of his discretion and would increase the risk of ‘unequal treatment which is difficult to justify.’
The Executive also notes that the dealers are already crowding overcrowded prisons. “Systematic imprisonment for drug trafficking only adds to the pressure on detention, without addressing the underlying problem. The Canton of Vaud already has one of the highest incarceration rates for drug-related offenses in Switzerland, “he said. Currently, 503 convicts are behind bars due to a federal drug law offense, out of a total of 957 inmates.
Reduced crime
The Council of State invokes other figures to support its position. The 2018 crime report shows a decrease of 32% – 33% in Lausanne – in drug law offenses compared to 2017.
This indictment will not surprise the PLR who, in October 2019, noted that the criminal chain never agreed with the Grand Council “except when we vote their budget”. Or that “the left defends the dealers”. The next debate promises to be lively.
Created: 14.02.2020, 18h51
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