Zurich Couple After 599 Days in Custody: Daughter Retracts Abuse Allegations
A Zurich couple spent 599 days in custody – based on allegations that the daughter years later described as lies. The appeal court is reopening the case.
Daughter Confesses to Lies: Zurich Appeal Court Reopens Abuse Case
A girl who was 14 years old at the time of the alleged offence accused her stepfather of sexual abuse and her mother of assault. In late 2023, both were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Just under three months after the judgment, the now 19-year-old daughter contacted the responsible court president – and declared that all accusations had been fabricated. According to the NZZ, which reviewed the revision decision, the Zurich Appeal Court decided on 16 June this year to reopen the concluded criminal proceedings.
The Phone Call That Changed Everything
On 5 March 2024, one day after her 19th birthday, the young woman called the court president. She said she had not dared to tell the truth until then. Now she wanted to ease her conscience and face the consequences for her behaviour at that time. The accusations against her mother and stepfather had been completely made up – as a teenager, she had simply wanted more freedom, and then things had got out of hand.
The 19-year-old emphasised explicitly that nobody had pressured her to make this statement, and she was aware that she herself risked facing punishment as a result. A subsequent questioning of several witnesses by the youth prosecutor's office found no indication that third parties had influenced her.
Lengthy Sentences Based on a Single Expert Opinion
The couple's conviction was based substantially on the daughter's statements. The public prosecution service had commissioned a credibility assessment from a psychiatrist and three psychologists; their conclusion was that the statements were "highly probably credible". This assessment was instrumental in the sentences being significantly increased on appeal: the mother received 47 instead of 22 months in prison, the stepfather – a Turkish citizen – 50 instead of 36 months plus an eight-year ban from entry.
In total, the mother and stepfather spent 599 days in custody together before the revision proceedings were initiated. The girl's younger siblings were placed in institutional care following the mother's arrest.
An experienced court expert identified several indications of professional deficiencies in the central document, according to the Tamedia newspapers. The appeal court considers it conceivable that the same experts would today assess the daughter's credibility differently following her retraction.
Revision in an Extraordinary Case
A revision of a final criminal judgment in Switzerland is subject to high hurdles. It requires that confidence in the correctness of the judgment has "subsequently been shaken by serious facts" – as stated in the revision decision reviewed by the NZZ. The appeal court considered this condition to be met in the present case. In the new proceedings, it must now assess whether the original accusations or the subsequent retraction is more credible. In the best-case scenario for the couple, complete acquittals could result.
Because the mother and stepfather had applied for the case to be reopened, they have not had to serve their sentences to date. Their lawyers are demanding compensation of 240,000 francs for the 599 days of remand custody, according to the Tamedia newspapers.
Daughter Remains Unpunished
The young woman faces no criminal consequences for her retraction. The youth prosecutor's office did open criminal proceedings against her for making a false accusation shortly after her phone call, but later discontinued them. The reason lies in juvenile criminal law: the limitation period for false accusations is five years and began to run from the last statements made by the then 14-year-old.
When asked by the NZZ, the youth prosecutor's office stated that the daughter's silence during the subsequent course of proceedings did not alter this deadline. This means: shortly after she telephoned her retraction to the court as a 19-year-old, prosecution for the alleged false statements had already become statute-barred.
An Open Outcome
How the new proceedings before the Zurich Appeal Court will end is currently unclear. What is certain is that the young woman's phone call to the court president has changed the entire evidentiary situation – and two people who for years were regarded as perpetrators now stand as possible victims of a miscarriage of justice.
Source: NZZ