Saturday, March 25, 2006

score one for Rhino

The squatters of Rhino can sleep easier now, as the Federal Tribunal rejected the landlord's argument for a provisional eviction. Swissinfo reports (in French.)
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The famous squat Rhino in Geneva, Switzerland scores another judiciary win !
On june 26, the federal court denied an appeal by the owners of the squatted building. The owners were claiming that the state prosecutors' eviction order was legal and should therfore be carried out.
But the squatters attorney claimed that the reasons for the eviction, put forward by the state prosecutor, were invalid. What were those reasons ? Mainly that the squat represented a threat to public securiity and order.
The federal tribunal agreed with the decision of the administrative tribunal of Geneva and declared the eviction order void. Quite understandably, the squat is known for hosting films and discussions on peace and development issues, has many children living there... not quite the image of a "threat to public security".
The court's decision is a strong message to the over-zealous Daniel Zappelli, the Geneva state prosecutor. He has been criticised even by people from his own conservative group for being too agressive about sympathetic and arty squatters, instead of fully cooperating with foreign justice departments to help squeeze the big fish: money launderers, tax evaders, etc, that flock towards Switzerland and Geneva.

News about the Rhino decision:
http://www.swissinfo.org/fre/suisse/agences/index/Le_Tribunal_federal_deboute_les_proprietaires_du_squat_Rhino.html?siteSect=113&sid=6847845&cKey=1151316981000

8:11 AM

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