Federal Court Aargau judiciary must re-examine suspicious sale of weapons

The Federal Supreme Court has partially upheld the appeal of a man who had sold a weapon that was later used in a robbery. The lower court in Aargau did not sufficiently justify the conviction for endangering public safety.

In May 2023, the Aargau High Court sentenced the man to a partial prison sentence of 27 months for receiving stolen goods, violating the Weapons Act and endangering public safety with weapons. It also ordered a seven-year ban from the country.

In addition to selling a submachine gun with 100 cartridges in 2018, the man had previously bought a pistol and a silencer. This is the result of a ruling published by the Federal Supreme Court on Friday. The submachine gun was later used in a robbery in Geneva.

The conviction for endangering public safety was overturned by Switzerland's highest court. The lower court did not give sufficient reasons as to why the man could have assumed that the submachine gun would be used for criminal acts.

Suspicious purchase

The circumstances of the transaction - a telephone appointment with two strangers, their focus on the most powerful weapon, the lack of a contract and the sale within ten minutes - were suspicious, wrote the Federal Supreme Court. However, they alone did not allow the conclusion that the weapon would be used for a prohibited act. The case is therefore being returned to the lower court.

The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal regarding the purchase of the pistol in 2015. The complainant bought the gun from an Albanian. He did not take into account the fact that nationals of this country are not allowed to own weapons in Switzerland and that an exemption permit is required to purchase a silencer. (Judgment 6B_885/2023 of 18.7.2024)