He incriminated himself Court sentences Swiss Ukraine mercenary for the first time
The military justice system has tried a Swiss mercenary from Ukraine. The man was found guilty of fighting in Ukraine. He was absent from the trial.
18.12.2025, 19:24
18.12.2025, 20:06
SDA
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- The military court sentenced a 49-year-old Swiss man to 18 months' suspended imprisonment with a four-year probationary period for performing foreign service in the Ukraine war.
- The verdict was based primarily on the defendant's own public statements and other evidence such as media reports, social media posts and a Europol list.
- The trial took place in the absence of the accused and is the first of its kind in Switzerland. The verdict is not yet final.
On Thursday, the military court in Meilen ZH sentenced a suspected Ukrainian mercenary to 18 months' imprisonment for providing foreign services. The sentence is conditional with a probationary period of four years. The 49-year-old did not attend the trial.
There was great interest in the case, with numerous media representatives and spectators arriving in Meilen ZH long before the start of the trial. Several members of the military police were on duty. The 49-year-old was outspoken about his deployment in Ukraine, spoke to newspapers and appeared on "Rundschau".
The man is said to have been in the pay of the Ukrainian army from February 2022 to December 2024. The military justice system therefore charged him with rendering foreign services. However, the accused did not attend the trial. The Schaffhausen man is said to be in Israel. The court decided to hold the trial in absentia.
He incriminated himself
If the man's statements are to be believed, he fought on the front line. He was aware that he would be arrested in Switzerland, said the 49-year-old in an interview with SRF's "Rundschau" program. However, he sees himself on the right side and says that he wants to help. The military court let the report run on Thursday, and the president of the court also read out newspaper articles.
With his statements in the "Rundschau", the 49-year-old himself had shown that he was in the service of others, said the court president at the opening of the judgment. The contribution was made of his own free will. There was also further evidence such as Instagram pictures, media reports and a Europol list of possible mercenaries. The court assumed a period of service of at least one year.
The court handed down a conditional sentence because the 49-year-old was a first offender under military law. However, the long probationary period should deter him from further deployments. The verdict is not yet final and can be appealed to the Court of Cassation.
Long criminal record
At the hearing, the court president listed several criminal court convictions against the alleged Ukraine mercenary. He was in inpatient detention from 2014 to 2017.
According to the court president, the 49-year-old was one of 573 international mercenaries on a Europol list. His name also appeared on a pro-Russian Telegram channel.
No evidence of operations?
The auditor, the military counterpart to the public prosecutor, demanded an unconditional prison sentence of six months. The defense lawyer pleaded for acquittal.
"He cannot decide for himself to perform such a service," said the auditor in his plea. In Switzerland, these acts would be punished, even if they were carried out for humanitarian reasons. The reports and his statements showed that the 49-year-old was on the front line. Due to the previous convictions and in order to prevent him from further deployments, the auditor demanded an unconditional prison sentence.
"There is no evidence that he was involved in combat operations or was at the front," said the defense lawyer. The indictment was only based on media reports, objective evidence was lacking. The defendant's statements are dubious. "Even the mother hardly believes him," said the defense lawyer. The mother had stated that she deleted 80 percent of what he said.
Mother was critical
The defendant's mother had previously been questioned as a witness. She painted a picture of a difficult person. There had never been a diagnosis, but that something was wrong with him, "I don't need a doctor to know that". The doctors had sometimes spoken of schizophrenia, then of a split personality.
The 49-year-old has not completed school, nor has he had any training. He has been living in Israel for seven years, where he also has a son. "He calls me briefly twice a month to say that everything is fine," said the mother. He was still in touch on the eve of the trial. When he definitely went to Israel, her son emptied her account. However, she withdrew her complaint as she wanted to put an end to it.
According to his own statements, the accused fought for an international volunteer force alongside the Ukrainian army. The hearing was the first trial against an alleged Ukrainian mercenary in Switzerland.
