Swiss Federal Tribunal overturns extended therapeutic confinement for long-detained inmate
Switzerland's Federal Tribunal has cancelled the latest extension of a therapeutic confinement order for a prisoner who has been held for over twenty years despite a sixteen-month sentence.
A man identified as Rob, sentenced to sixteen months but detained for more than two decades, received a rare favorable ruling when Switzerland's Federal Tribunal annulled the most recent extension of his institutional therapeutic confinement. The Neuchâtel cantonal court had extended the measure in December, citing an elevated risk of severe physical violence during altercations. However, the Federal Tribunal found the decision arbitrary, emphasizing that the psychiatric report did not support such a physical-violence risk, only a heightened chance of verbal threats.
The higher court ordered a new assessment that respects proportionality and properly evaluates the risk of reoffending. The cantonal court must now draft a revised decision. This development follows earlier reporting that highlighted the inmate's Kafkaesque legal situation.
Why it matters
It highlights flaws in Switzerland's long-term confinement system and may affect future therapeutic detention rulings.
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