A fine of CHF 800 imposed on Anni Lanz by the authorities in Brig in December 2018 was unheld by a judge in Sion last week, according to Swiss broadcaster RTS.
The 74 year old activist from Basel was caught bringing a failed Afghan asylum seeker back to Switzerland in violation of Swiss law. The pair were stopped at the Swiss-Italian border in Gondo in February 2018.
The man, a former soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, found himself sleeping on the streets of Milan.
Despite her argument that she acted on humanitarian grounds, the judge rejected her plea. The prosecutor reminded the court that all violations of the law should be punished. He said that Lanz could have found help for the man in Italy, an augment Lanz rejects. She said she tried several times to find help in Milan without success.
Lanz, the former secretary general of Solidarité sans frontières, said she was disappointed with the verdict and will consider taking her case the the Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s highest court.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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