Keystone
On Wednesday, the Zurich District Court acquitted a 44-year-old opponent in a mask twice: on the one hand, because it had not been proven that she actually took part in the demonstration. On the other hand because of a federal court ruling from September.
On January 25th of this year between 50 and 100 mask opponents met at the Walcheturm, right at the entrance to the Education Directorate. They demonstrated against the decision that primary school students should now also wear masks.
A little further on, across the street, a 44-year-old housewife filmed the scene. She was not part of the demo, she stressed in court on Wednesday. Rather, she “happened to drop by” because she had a doctor’s appointment nearby.
Although she is also against masks at school, she has nothing to do with the demo. In front of the district court, she fought against the fine of 250 francs that a police officer had given her.
Without a mask in court
The woman from the Unterland appeared in court without a mask because she had a certificate for mask dispensing with her. The Swiss cross with the inscription “Liberté”, the battle cry that is known to be chanted at the Corona demos, was emblazoned in red on her mobile phone case.
The district court nevertheless acquitted her of the charge of contravention of the Covid regulation, and this for two reasons: The accused could not be proven beyond doubt that she was really part of the rally, said the judge.
The second reason why the woman was able to leave the hall without a penalty was a federal court decision in September: In this fundamental decision, the Lausanne judges came to the conclusion that the corona-related, strong restrictions on participants for demonstrations were disproportionate.
Participation restriction was “disproportionate”
Demonstrations are very important and must therefore be treated differently from normal events. This federal court decision concerned the canton of Bern, but the canton of Zurich was also limited to a maximum of 15 participants in January at the time of the mask demonstration.
The Zurich regulation was therefore not lawful either. “Fines that were issued at that time would have to be lifted,” said the judge. “You have no legal basis.” However, if a fine has been accepted, i.e. not contested, it is practically impossible to cancel it retrospectively.
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