A Swiss sniper who volunteered for the Ukrainian army faces punishment back home. How could this turn out? And why is that?
That’s what it’s about: Tens of thousands of foreigners followed Volodymyr Zelensky’s call and are fighting in Ukraine – including dozens of Swiss people. But according to local law, that’s not allowed. Article 94 of the Military Criminal Law states that “Swiss nationals who enter foreign military service without the permission of the Federal Council shall be punished with imprisonment for up to three years or a fine”. This regulation also applies to women. Foreigners who are resident in Switzerland are not affected.
How many people are affected? The Swiss military judiciary explained to SRF that there are currently seven proceedings against Swiss people who are fighting or have fought in the Ukraine war. In the last 20 years, on average, around a handful of convictions per year have been pronounced for weakening the armed forces. According to Florian Menzi, media spokesman for the military justice system, there is some discretion when it comes to sentencing. This can be based on a variety of factors, including the nature and length of service, or who was fought for or against.
How did the law come about? The mercenary system in Switzerland can look back on a centuries-long – and profitable – past. At times every tenth male citizen made a living from it. It was banned in 1859, but service in a foreign army remained possible. Following the First World War, in 1927 the Military Penal Code was provided with the chapter “Weakening of the Defense Force” under Article 94. The law experienced its first stress test just a few years later with the so-called “Spanish fighters”. At that time, the Swiss went into the civil war on the Iberian peninsula on both the republican and fascist sides.
Are there exceptions? If someone is recruited under duress, there is no punishment. The same applies in the event that someone can claim ignorance of the law. It gets complicated with dual citizens. If you have already served in another country, you are not required to do military service in Switzerland. The same applies if someone is not resident in Switzerland. All other dual citizens residing here are prohibited from joining the army of a foreign country. However, Switzerland has signed agreements with several countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Austria and the USA, which allow those affected to choose where they want to do their military service.
How are other states doing it? The Schaffhausen resident, Avi Motola, who is active as a sniper in the Donbass, complains to the “Rundschau” that other countries allow their citizens to do military service in Ukraine. He himself fought with soldiers from Germany, France, Italy and the USA. Elsewhere, however, the situation is not quite as clear. In Great Britain, for example, a law from 1870 fundamentally prohibits service in a foreign army – but it is no longer applied. And in Latvia, the parliament had to approve a change in the law which allows Latvian volunteers to fight in Ukraine. Ultimately, the decision to allow our own citizens to serve in Ukraine remains a political one.