Former Swiss Life finance director’s sentence cut to 22 months, suspended
Geneva gripped by court case over couple’s involvement in girlfriend’s death
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A judge in Sion this week sentenced the driver of a van that crashed into a military vehicle on the A9 autoroute to 22 months in prison, going beyond the public prosecutor’s request for 18 months in prison and a 5-year suspended sentence. The accident took the lives of two of the driver’s fellow workers, both Portuguese, one age 62 and the other age 21. It also left three people injured, one of them, a 22-year-old Valais worker, who was left in critical condition.
The van crashed into a military vehicle that was stopped in the emergency lane of the A9 autoroute near Vernayaz in October 2010. The driver was over the legal alcohol limit. The judge, in passing the sentence, noted that he had already been condemned in 2002 for drunk driving and in 2004 he had killed a cyclist while driving although no alcohol was involved, according to Le Nouvelliste. The judge also noted that the man had falsely claimed at one point during the trial that one of his victims had been driving the van.
He gave up drinking only two months ago and had shown little remorse towards his victims, the judge added.
Several other court cases around the country are making headlines this week, including:
Zurich, Swiss Life, Dominique Morax, former head of finances for Swiss Life, saw his sentence reduced from 30 to 22 months for swindling the company’s directors in a 2002 deal; he was sentenced in 2010 but appealed.
Geneva, a court is hearing arguments that the owner of an Italian trucking firm should be charged with negligent homicide, in addition to his driver, for the death in March 2011 of a 20-year-old scooter rider. The driver, Serbian, was obliged by his boss to driver longer than the legally permitted number of hours, the victim’s family argues.
Vaud, the court is hearing arguments that the death of local councillor Catherine Ségalat in Vaux-sur-Morges was murder, while her stepson Laurent Ségalat’s lawyers say her fatal fall down a flight of stairs was an accident. Much depends on testimony from witnesses, some of whom say there was “tension” between the pair and others who say not. The politician died in January 2010.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A Bern youth, 18, and two from Valais, both 19, were arrested at the scene of a break-in in Collombey, canton Valais, in the early hours of 17 May, canton Vaud police said Friday 25 May. The three had climbed a metal grill door at a business in the village at 02:50 and were stealing tools when the alarm went off.
A security guard stopped them and two patrol cars that arrived rapidly took them into custody.
The three all live in Valais, in the area near the break-in.
Tour du Pays de Vaud bike race starts Thursday on a road near you
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Vaud police warn that roads in the area will be blocked for brief periods starting Thursday 24 May to accommodate the Tour du Pays de Vaud cycling race. Motorists are being cautioned to take care and to be aware that roads around the race will be closed about 10 minutes before the cyclists pass.
Here are the areas and times affected, but note that times will change depending on the race:
Thursday 24 May
Prologue, Moudon, first departure at 19h00, end towards 20h30, parcours de 2’960 mètres en ville, sur route fermée.
Friday 25 May
1ère étape : Cully - Bex, de 15h30 à 18h30 environ, via Rivaz - Saint-Saphorin - Corseaux - Vevey (15h42) - La Tour-de-Peilz - Clarens - Montreux (15h51) - Territet - Veytaux - Villeneuve (15h58) - Rennaz - Roche - Aigle - Bex (16h24) - Canton du Valais - Lavey-les-Bains (17h57) - Lavey-Village - “La Pelouse” - Bex.
Saturday 26 May, morning
2ème étape : Ollon - Leysin, de 09h00 à 11h30 environ, via Aigle - Yvorne - Roche - Rennaz - Crebelley - Chessel (09h24) - Porte du Scex - Canton du Valais - Bex (10h11) - Les Fontaines - Antagnes - Ollon - Aigle - Le Sépey (10h58) - Cergnat - Leysin.
Saturday 26 May afternoon
Aigle - Aigle, course contre la montre, de 15h30 à 19h00 environ.
Le parcours sera interdit à la circulation de 14h00 à 19h30 environ.
Sunday 27 May
3ème étape : Froideville - Epalinges, de 09h00 à 12h30 environ, via Villars-Tiercelin - Peney-le-Jorat - Corcelles-le-Jorat - Mézières - Châtillens - Oron-la-Ville (09h32) – Canton de Fribourg - Chavannes-sur-Moudon - Chesalles-sur-Moudon - Curtilles - Marnand (10h14) - Granges - Canton de Fribourg - Combremont-le-Grand (10h48) - Prahins - Ogens - Bioley-Magnoux - La Tuilière - Oppens - Pailly (11h17) - Fey - Peyre-Possens - Villars-Tiercelin - Froideville - Montheron (11h47) - Chalet-à-Gobet - Vers-chez-les-Blanc - La Claie-aux-Moines (12h03) - Les Trois Chasseurs - Montblesson - Epalinges
FRIBOURG, SWITZERLAND – A fight that broke out at the Fribourg train station at 20.20 Tuesday 15 May has left one man, a 26-year-old Tunisian asylum seeker, in critical condition, say Fribourg police. Five men, all African asylum seekers, were arrested, but a sixth man fled the scene. Police are trying to identify the missing person and to piece together details of the incident. The cause of the fight has not been made public.
Two police officers were injured slightly by one of the men, who attacked them with a broken bottle before he was brought under control.
Earlier in the day the canton issued a statement saying Fribourg police had successfully drawn to a close a sting operation code-named Eden, that identified 66 North Africans living in refugee centres in the canton, who were implicated in the “flagrant” increase in a series of crimes, from robberies to car and home break-ins (up 410 percent in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the previous two years), violence and drugs, mainly in the city of Fribourg. All were either told to leave without the right to re-enter Switzerland or in the case of those applying for refugee status they were turned down.
Police insist, in their statement, that it would be wrong to generalize: most North Africans who have applied for asylum are not involved in crime.
A9 new radar speeding fines kick in 16 May
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – One year of testing and improving the ANPR radar system on the stretch of A9 autoroute between Aigle and Bex has come to an end and starting tomorrow you’ll pay the price if you put your foot on the pedal too hard.
Police in Vaud say fines will be issued starting 16 May.
Foreign drivers will also be fined or worse
Foreigners beware, you’re included: police here have agreements with France and Germany and fines and other penalties are sent automatically directly to them. Reminder: the Swiss autoroute speed limit is 120kph unless marked otherwise.
Jean-Christophe Sauterel, head of communications for Vaud Police, told GenevaLunch that drivers from elsewhere can also be denounced to police in their own countries; the difference is that the process is simply not automatic.
The ANPR radars, unlike traditional ones, measure a car’s speed over a distance, rather than at one point. Trialing the system over the 8km Aigle-Bex area just before the border with canton Valais has shown that the system is effective in smoothing out the flow of traffic and improving safety. Speeding has fallen by 40 percent overall, and speeding at more than 10kph above the limit has gone down by 60 percent on the largely straight, flat stretch of road.
The radar was put into use in May 2011, but ran into problems in June and July when unusually hot weather caused the devices, made by Multanova, to function incorrectly some of the time. The latest devices, a new generation model, have been adjusted over the past few months and integrated into the automatic fines system.
Beware, drivers with trailers
The one group whose speed has not been reduced significantly is cars and campers with trailers, who are limited to 80kph. The new radars recognizes and measures different types of vehicles according to their allowed speed limits, and police in Vaud are urging this group to slow down or pay the price.
Scene of drowning Monday in canton Valais
SION, SWITZERLAND – A 42-year-old Dutch man who lives in Valais died Monday morning 14 May when he fell into the fast-moving Rhone river in the Goms Valley, near Reckingham.
Police say that while doing maintenance work at the Augenstern campground he began emptying a wheelbarrow into the river at 11:30. For reasons that are not clear, he fell into the water.
His body was found 800 metres downstream by workers at the Gommerkraftswerke electric power station.
Swiss police dog at a recent training camp (not Krak)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 24-year-old Swiss border guard suffered serious injuries Sunday morning 13 May when a passenger attempted to flee from a car that was pulled over by guards. The young guard sustained two compound (open) fractures to his leg and was operated on successfully Sunday night; he will need several months to recover, according to customs authorities.
The passengers of a blue Renaut Clio with French plates were stopped at the Moillesulaz (Thônex) border area, at route de Genève 148 at 09:20 Sunday as they were leaving Switzerland. A 21-year-old Algerian jumped out of the car and tried to run back towards Switzerland.
Two guards immediately gave chase and as they caught him, one of them fell hard against a curb, breaking his leg badly. While his colleague stopped to give him first aid, the suspect ran off again and another border guard, in charge of a police dog, ordered the man to stop. When the order was ignored he called on the dog to give chase.
Krak, a 4-year-old German Shepherd, caught the man after 50 metres, biting him on the calf. The man suffered light injuries.
The car’s occupants were arrested by guards on suspicion of having committed a number of crimes in the Geneva region. They were turned over to Geneva police.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The death toll was unusually high for motorcyclsts in western Switzerland over the weekend: 1 person died in Geneva and 2 in Valais. A car accident Saturday at 17:40 took the lives of two men in Geneva.
The two men in the car crash were on the road from Peney to Bernex, in Aire-la-Ville, when their car crashed “violently” into a tree, say police. The 52-year-old passenger, a Portuguese man, died at the scene. Emergency workers gave the driver, a 75-year-old Geneva man, a long cardiac massage but were unable to save him.
Police are asking for anyone with information to contact them at +41 22 427 64 50.
Geneva, two fatal crashes in 12 hours
A 22-year-old Geneva man on a scooter died Sunday in Geneva, the canton’s sixth road death this year. The accident occurred on the viaduc de l’Ecu, say police, at 05:40 Sunday morning, when his scooter had a head-on crash with a car driven by a 62-year-old man from Togo. The circumstances of the accident are not yet clear and police are asking anyone with information to phone them at +41 22 427 64 50.
Valais, two motorcyclists killed in separate accidents
A 32-year-old Frenchman lost his life Sunday 13 May when the front of his motorcycle collided with a car that was stopped in a line of traffic, between Martigny and Fully. He was heading towards Fully at 15:40 when the accident occurred, about 200 metres short of the Branson bridge. Anyone with information is asked to phone police at the 117 emergency phone number.
Also in Valais, a 66-year-old man died Friday night on the A9 autoroute. He was pushing his motorcycle, which had broken down, through the Champsec tunnel in Sion, in the driving lane at 21:10, when a 32-year-old driver caught him with the front right edge of the car. The motorcyclist died at the scene of the accident.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The score this week: Valais and Vaud police 10, robbers 0.
The flashy robberies, masked men with little but deadly guns and cash registers being emptied, usually get our attention, but many of the thefts in the Lake Geneva region, particularly of businesses, is the result of break-ins. Police work often takes time to pay off and is usually less dramatic but DNA left at the site of crimes is increasingly being used to identify robbers. This week Vaud police announced they have arrested seven people for a string of more than 50 break-ins, mostly of area businesses, and thefts amounting to over CHF100,000 plus rings, jewels, cell phones and electronic equipment.
Canton Valais police say they caught three men on the autoroute shortly after they robbed a business in Martigny 30 April. The loot, for an unspecified amount was recovered from the men’s car.
The Vaud arrests came after three months of investigation into 57 robberies. The main culprit is a 29-year-old Kosovar man who took part in at least 52 of the crimes, DNA left at the scenes showed, a series of crimes committed from July 2010 to 2012. The others under arrest are also all Kosovar nationals, aged 29 to 48.
The three men, all from Georgia, who were arrested in Valais are residents of asylum centres: in Visp, Valais and Pully and Gland in canton Vaud.
Foreigners bring a wealth of business to Geneva, but the tourists are also part of the attraction for much of the city's petty crimes
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The daily police reports from Geneva police tend to confirm what too many citizens suspect, that petty crimes such as theft and drug-dealing are committed mainly by foreigners.
The latest is almost typical: police Wednesday arrested seven people for crimes ranging from shoplifting to breaking and entering to being in Switzerland without legal entry papers or a means of survival, and all were foreigners.
But there was one unusual twist, a 24-year-old American citizen who lives in Carouge was picked up for shoplifting CHF500 worth of electronic goods near Rive. He admitted to the crime and said he was getting the five items as a birthday present for his brother.
He joined, on the daily report, a Mongolian and a Tunisian who were without papers and no visible means of support, an Algerian who was picked up for theft and no papers, a Frenchman without papers who admitted to a drug habit when police traced an April incident (breaking and entering a car) to him thanks to DNA from blood, a Frenchman for breaking and entering and an Albanian without papers who turned out to have been ordered out of the country without the right to return, by canton Valais.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A 78-year-old cyclist died Friday afternoon when he slipped under a heavy farm vehicle and was run over. The Vaud man died at the scene of the accident.
He was standing with a group of 8 cyclists at the edge of a farm road near Chavorney, to let the machine pass as it came out of a field, when he suddenly slipped under the wheels, according to witnesses. Police noted that everyone in the group, including the deceased man, was wearing safety equipment.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Michel Chevrolet, the 39-year-old Geneva politician who was found dead in his Rives apartment 24 April, died of natural causes, Geneva’s public attorney said Thursday 26 April in a statement. There will be no criminal investigation into his death as a result, although additional medical tests are underway, says the judicial office. The autopsy results will not be known for several weeks.
Le Matin and sister newspaper La Tribune de Geneve report, without citing the source, that he had recently had a battery of medical tests in preparation for a heart bypass scheduled for June, but that the tests did not reveal any major problems.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Bank and gas station robberies have become more frequent in western Switzerland in recent months, and police have stepped up efforts to catch them.
Canton Valais’s operation Cobra bore fruit early Wednesday 25 April after a night-long mountain forest manhunt near the resort of Crans-Montana, with a dragnet that involved 200 police officers, a heat-seeking Puma helicopter and police dog teams.
The Savièse branch of UBS bank was robbed at 14:00 Tuesday by two men who threatened the manager with handguns. The two drove off, leaving the manager unharmed, and operation Cobra went into effect as soon as the alarm was sounded.
The car carrying the two men was stopped by a police barricade between the villages of Ayent and Icogne, at a bridge over the Lienne river, which comes down a canyon banked by steep forests on each side. The pair stopped their car and tried to flee. One of the men was caught and the money from the hold-up was recovered in the car.
The other man fled into the forest and a dragnet was set up in the area. Local residents were warned to lock their doors and cars in case the fugitive tried to find shelter or steal a car. Police combed the area and the Puma, which uses infra-red to detect the heat of bodies, scoured the forest from the air.
At 07:00 Wednesday morning a Mercedes 350 with a man and a woman inside was stopped by police as it entered the dragnet area. The man was the fugitive and the couple had spent the night at a chalet they’d rented in Icogne. Police then found a third car used by the trio, parked in nearby Grimisuat, for use after the car in which the robbers fled the bank, part of a scheme designed to throw off pursuers.
Cobra also involved police in neighbouring cantons put on alert, with police dog teams from Vaud on standby to be called in if necessary.
A fire in early April in Sierre in a private parking lot caused extensive damage to 28 cars and a building, one of scores of fires since the start of the year
SION, SWITZERLAND – A man in his 20′s who is a member of the fire brigade in Sierre, canton Valais, is in jail after he admitted to setting a number of fires, mainly in the town.
Police, with the cooperation of the fire department’s leaders, decided to take DNA samples from firefighters, on a voluntary basis after 28 cases of suspected arson in the first three months of this year.
The young man, who was under suspicion of setting the fires, refused the tests.
When questioned, he admitted to all the fires set in basements, cellars, and outbuildings but not to those in football stands.
The police investigation is continuing.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The Tour de Romandie bicycle race gets underway Tuesday 24 April, with racers facing nearly 700 km run over the course of the six-day race and 8,800 metres of altitude differences.
Tuesday’s prologue takes the riders along the Ouchy quai in Lausanne towards Morges. The first race is Wednesday, from Morges to La Chaux-de-Fonds and it ends in Crans-Montana Sunday 29 April.
Vaud police are alerting motorists that traffic facing the oncoming race will be stopped and drivers will have to be patient while the race passes, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Areas affected:
Wednesday 25 April
Morges - La Chaux-de-Fonds
Departure Morges, Quai du Mont-Blanc (12h35) – Echichens – Romanel-sur-Morges – Aclens – Gollion – Allens – Cossonay (12h54) – La Sarraz – Pompaples – Arnex-sur-Orbe – Orbe (13h14) – Mathod – Montagny – Les Tuileries – Grandson (13h35) – Onnens – Corcelles-Concise – Concise (13h46) – Canton de Neuchâtel
Friday 27 April
La Neuveville – Charmey
Departure Canton de Berne (13h30) – Canton de Fribourg (13h50) – Mur (14h03) – Guévaux – Vallamand – Vallamand-Dessous – Salavaux (14h09) – Canton de Fribourg – Missy (14h17) – Vallon – Ressudens – Grandcour (14h23) – Canton de Fribourg – Yvonand (14h48) – Arrissoules – Rovray – Chavannes-le-Chêne – Combremont-le-Petit – Cremin – Lucens (15h20) -Curtilles – Sarzens – Brenles (15h35) – Canton de Fribourg
Saturday 28 April
Bulle – Sion
Departure Canton de Fribourg (12h25) – La Tine (13h05) – Rossinière – Les Moulins – L’Etivaz – La Lécherette – Col des Mosses (13h42) – La Comballaz – Aigle (13h57) – Bex (14h10) – Canton du Valais
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 40-year-old Kosovo man who lives in Geneva was arrested by police 19 April for the murder of a 78-year-old man in Carouge 10 April. The man, who was picked up after he returned from a brief trip abroad, has confessed to the crime. The victim was found in his apartment with his throat cut.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – The 53-year-old father who killed his teenage daughter in Zurich 10 May 2010 with a hatchet has been given 17 years in prison for the murder. He and his wife, immigrants from Pakistan, had been called to a police station after their daughter was caught for theft. When the parents returned home the girl was packing, saying she was leaving the family home and would support herself through prostitution if necessary, according to court records.
The father then attacked his daughter with an axe. His lawyer pleaded a crime of passion and asked for under four years, but the prosecution argued for 20 years for assassination.
Shirin Omar, who speaks only Arabic, has been missing with her two young daughters for more than 2 weeks
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Sirin Omar, age 27, and her two daughters Sara, 3 and Nora, 6, have been missing since Saturday 31 March from the Lausanne centre for asylum seekers in Crissier.
The mother, who speaks only Arabic, suffers from psychological problems, say Vaud police.
Her husband waited for their return before contacting police Friday 13 April to report them missing.
The mother is 175cm tall, average build with medium-length dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a 3/4-length black coat and jeans when last seen.
Nora is 115cm tall and was wearing a dark red coat and jeans.
Sara is 100cm tall and was wearing a pink coat and jeans.
Anyone who thinks they have seen the woman and two girls or who has had contact with them is asked to contact the nearest police station or to phone Vaud police at 021 644 4444.
Nora, age 6, missing since 31 March with her mother and sister
Sara, age 3, missing with her sister and mother
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 32-year-old British man who lives in the UK, whose identity has not been released by canton Valais police, died during the night of Wednesday-Thursday 11-12 April, after falling from a third-floor balcony in Verbier.
The man’s body was found at 08:20 Thursday at the foot of the building by a passerby, who contacted police. The circumstances surrounding his fall are unclear, police say. An investigation has been opened and an autopsy ordered.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 78-year-old Spanish man, identified by press reports as Julio, has become Geneva’s second murder of 2012.
According to Geneva police, the man was found Tuesday 10 April at 10:10, but his murder took place a few days earlier. His throat had been “significantly slit” by an unknown person who entered his apartment in Carouge.
Although the police report does not provide any further details, local press reports say the man had been living alone for the past two or three years, since his wife went to live in an assisted care facility.
The man was a friendly person, who didn’t always lock his door, neighbours told 20 Minutes and the Tribune de Genève.
Police say there are not yet any suspects in the case.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A high-speed chase Monday 9 April at 17:00 that started near Gros-de-Vaud in canton Vaud, with the cars getting up to 200kph, ended in Echallens in front of a parking lot with the arrest of the 24-year-old Swiss driver. His companion was taken in for questioning and released once it was clear he was not behind the wheel.
Police were alerted by a caller who reported a red BMW 135i for dangerous driving near Chavorney. A squad car picked up the trail of the car, which fled when the driver spotted the police officers. He drove towards Corcelles-sur-Chavornay then Penthéréaz, committing a number of serious road crimes, say police, including cutting off another car and bumping it before continuing. The driver dropped off his passenger at one point near some woods, and the passenger thumbed a lift but was picked up shortly by police.
The car was clocked doing 130kph going through communes and 200kph on cantonal roads during the chase.
The driver, who was over the legal limit for alcohol and whose license was suspended, was jailed after being quesstioned Monday night, and the car was confiscated.
Two-wheelers can expect police checks
Police in Switzerland step up preventive actions when the weather turns warm and bikers take to the road and particularly to winding mountain roads (photo, Valais Alps)
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Police in canton Vaud are repeating what they say was a successful preventive project a year ago, to alert motorcyclists to dangers over the Easter weekend.
Police teams will be visibly out in a number of areas to encourage motorcyclists to give their bikes safety checks and to openly discourage them from using stretches of road that are popular with bikers for racing.
Eight motorcyclists lost their lives on Vaud roads in 2011 and six were caused by the motorcycle drivers, statistics released in late March show.
The dates and places where police say they will be very much in evidene:
Friday 6 April, Nyon route Blanche and La Givrine route de St-Cergue
Saturday 7 April, Ste-Croix route de Mauborget and Col du Mollendruz
Sunday 8 April, Château d’Oex route de l’Etivaz and Col des Mosses
Monday 9 April, Crissier rue du Timonet and RC Lausanne-Vevey Sous-Dézaley.
Swiss to hand out tougher punishments in series of penal code reforms
Judges will be able to order foreign criminal expulsions in public hearings
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss federal government wants to bring back short jail sentences. The Federal Council announced late Wednesday 4 April that it will reintroduce sentences of three days to six months with community service as an option in some cases. Electronic bracelets, currently being tested by seven cantons, will be adopted nationwide, allowing offenders who are serving 20 days to one year to be tracked while they serve the last part of their sentences, outside jail.
Five years ago, in January 2007, the Swiss government got rid of short jail spells, replacing them with suspended sentences with fines. The experiment in gentler punishments is now at an end, with Bern saying that the population in general hasn’t viewed the new system as a real punishment and fines with suspended sentences have not acted as a deterrent.
Fines will be maintained under the new system, but the day-fines system will be capped at 180 days instead of the current 360, and the amounts will be from CHF10 to 3,000, with the idea of sentencing offenders to jail terms more frequently.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A 50-year-old Swiss man from the Jura was arrested in March, canton Vaud police announced 4 April, during a break-in in Delemont, while the family was off at a funeral. Police had been tracking him since January after a number of thefts, mainly of money and jewelry, that followed announcements in newspapers of a death.
An investigation has been opened into what appears to be 20 break-ins during the time people have left their homes while at funerals. The robberies occurred mainly in canton Vaud, but some were committed in Neuchatel, Fribourg, Jura, and Bern.
SION, VALAIS – Police in canton Valais say the capital, Sion, has been hit by a spate of car break-ins, with thieves going after cell phones and computers, or any other items of value. Unlocked trunks or car doors are being opened, but windows have also been smashed and windows left open a crack are used to get into the car.
In separate Sion police news, an officer who was standing in front of a bar Monday 2 April was intentionally hit by a car and injured. The driver swerved into the officer, then left the scene of the accident. The police officer was taken to the hospital for treatment of light injuries and police are seeking information about the driver of a white Seat Leon Cupra car.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Thanks to ICRC (International Red Cross) mediation, six police and four soldiers, the last captives in uniform held by Colombian rebels, were released Monday 2 April after 10-14 years in jungle captivity.
Thomas Ess, a Swiss ICRC staff member who until recently was based in Geneva and who is now in Bogotá, was on board one of the aircrafts that picked up the former hostages. Ess describes the scene when the former police officers realized they were being freed.
The hostages, held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, were transferred abroad a Brazilian military helicopter to a military base in Villavicencio, southeast of the capital Bogota, before being united with family members.
The release, announced by FARC on February 26, had been negotiated by the International Committee of the Red Cross and a group of Colombian mediators, headed by a former senator, Piedad Cordoba, who has visited Geneva several times looking for support for her humanitarian mission.
An unknown number of civilian hostages are still being held by the rebels. In February, FARC promised to abandon ransom kidnappings.
Responding to FARC’s hostage release, President Juan Manuel Santos said, “It is a gesture which we appreciate, but it is not enough”.
Links to other sources: El Pais, BBC, The Telegraph
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Spring is blooming in the hills above the famous Lavaux vineyards but one driver was going too fast to notice them Wednesday evening 28 March. A 20-year-old Swiss driver with a three-year new driver permit, was clocked by police going 161kph in an 80 zone at 17:45 while driving between Savigny and Forel-Lavaux in a sports car.
Given the 5kph margin for error the police allow, he was officially recorded as going 156. He was identified and stopped shortly after by police in Oron-la-Ville, where his license was taken away.
Young drivers who are covered by the three-year new driver permit are subject to more serious sanctions, police note, including losing their licenses.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A 10-year-old boy driving a fork-lift that was carrying potatoes died around noon WEdnesday 28 March when he lost control of the vehicle and it overturned, crushing him. He was working with several members of his family on the farm near Grandson when the accident happened and despite an emergency team arriving quickly the boy died at the scene of the accident. The boy was driving the farm vehicle on a secondary road at the time of the accident.
The family, in a state of shock, is being given counseling.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – A 50-year-old Italian clocked doing 209kph, with an average speed of 200kph, had his license confiscated and he is banned from Swiss roads, say police in canton Graubuenden. The man was spotted by police on the A13 between the border and Landquart, where the speed limit is 120kph.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Many of the children who were injured in the bus crash 13 March in Sierre are not yet ready to be interviewed by the police, their parents have reportedly told Belgian and Swiss police investigators, according to Belgian media. A team of Swiss inspectors is in Belgium this week for interviews as part of the effort to determine what caused the crash.
