Contents
Fabienne W. is traumatized and angry. Her alleged tormentors are known. But the authorities would treat her with kid gloves, she thinks. The police are accused of criminally untenable behavior and unprofessionalism. The authorities reject the allegations.
Fabienne W. will be invited to dinner on December 28, 2021. In the private apartment of a lawyer in Schaffhausen. She is an amateur musician and believes the man is interested in her music. But she noticed on site that the lawyer wanted to dissuade her from filing a complaint against one of his friends. He is said to have raped Fabienne W. around a week before.
The amateur musician told the “Rundschau” that she did not want to refrain from filing a complaint. One thing is clear: a few hours later, she was brutally beaten in the lawyer’s apartment. She suspects that it was an attempt to intimidate her. The accused lawyer and three of his colleagues, who were also in the apartment that night, deny this. They say that Fabienne W. was causing a disturbance and that they were simply trying to calm her down.
The next morning, Fabienne W. is found in Schaffhausen’s old town: beaten so badly that she has to be taken to hospital. The Schaffhausen police were alerted and began their investigations that same day.
Beating at the lawyer – cameras record
Thanks to surveillance camera recordings, we now know what happened in the lawyer’s apartment in the last hours of the night of the crime. As the files show, the lawyer installed two such cameras in his apartment.
After the night of the crime, the images from these cameras should be secured in order to reconstruct the events. According to the search warrant, the public prosecutor’s office’s order to the police is: “The storage media found during the house search must be searched and evaluated.”
At the scene, the lawyer tells the police that the surveillance footage is “saved on a computer.” However, the screen for this computer is broken. He shows the police officers images from a surveillance camera on his mobile phone, which the police officers film from there: without sound and in poor quality.
Questionable investigative steps
Konrad Jeker is one of the most renowned criminal defense lawyers in Switzerland. He told the “Rundschau” that the actions of the Schaffhausen police were “unbelievable”. And further: “This contradicts all criminal standards that are known.” The police “simply did not fulfill the order”.
The next day, the police have to search the lawyer’s house for a second time. Because they have now noticed that there is not just one, but two surveillance cameras in the apartment. Your task this time: “The storage media or electronic devices found during the house search are to be searched and evaluated.”
The police return with a USB stick containing the surveillance images from the last hours of that night – the lawyer helped them secure the images. For Konrad Jeker it is clear: “This order was not fulfilled either.”
Cell phone evaluated a year later
In spring 2023, more than a year after the incidents of December 29, 2021, the Schaffhausen police must conduct another search of the lawyer’s house. The police’s mission is to “secure and evaluate any mobile phones that can be found,” if there are several.
The police return with a cell phone, which the lawyer voluntarily hands over and has sealed. They did not search for any other phones.
“Same thing again: job not done,” says Konrad Jeker. The defense attorney’s conclusion about the police’s investigative work: They repeatedly failed to carry out the public prosecutor’s orders. “This is nothing more than disobeying orders.”
Authorities reject allegations
The “Rundschau” confronted the police, public prosecutor and justice department in the canton of Schaffhausen with the allegations. Citing the ongoing proceedings, the authorities declined to comment on camera. In a joint written statement, they rejected all allegations as baseless and false (see box “Statement of the Schaffhausen authorities”).
The accused lawyer did not respond to several questions from the editorial team.
Fabienne W. traumatized and angry
Fabienne W. now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. She has sleep disorders and mood swings and almost only keeps to herself. But she is also angry. And says that not only the massive attacks traumatized her, but also the actions of the authorities, who obviously treated the perpetrators with kid gloves.
The case for rape or defilement has now been discontinued. Fabienne W. has lodged a complaint against this. No charges have yet been brought against the main suspects in connection with the serious abuse. The presumption of innocence applies to all accused.