Former Basel-Landschaft migration official appears in court on abuse of office charges
A former employee of the Basel-Landschaft migration authority must answer several criminal charges. The public prosecutor's office sought a suspended fine.
Former Basel-Landschaft migration official appears in court on abuse of office charges
A 49-year-old former official of the immigration authority of the canton of Basel-Landschaft appeared before the criminal court in Muttenz. The prosecution accuses her of abuse of office, breach of official secrecy and extortion.
The prosecutor sought a suspended fine of 3,200 francs. She noted that the accused had already suffered a significant penalty through the loss of her leadership position. This was reported by Watson from the courtroom.
During the course of the proceedings, the prosecution significantly reduced its accusations. Originally, charges of racial discrimination and extortion had also been brought. However, the public prosecutor's office dropped these and argued for acquittal. It also withdrew one of three abuse of office charges.
The woman allegedly advised foreign nationals not to apply for premium subsidies despite contrary decisions from the Federal Court. However, the prosecution could not establish intentional conduct in this regard. It also did not classify her use of the term "Fundi" for certain Muslims in internal messages as discrimination, but merely as unprofessional.
However, the public prosecutor's office maintained its position on two points: the accused allegedly threatened EU nationals with revocation of their residence permit if they had minor prior convictions. Furthermore, she allegedly participated in proceedings despite a disqualification order and passed confidential travel information about asylum seekers to a social insurance institution.
The defence demanded acquittal on all counts and disputed the criminal relevance of the acts. The verdict is to be announced on Tuesday morning. The accused has since taken employment with the SVP.
Source: Google News CH — Crime (de)