The Vaud public prosecutor’s office suffered a sensitive defeat in court. What followed was a sleaze comedy like you’ve never seen before.
The clearing of the occupied hill took several days – around six hundred police officers were on duty.
A special kind of legal and political farce is currently taking place in the canton of Vaud: the main actors are Attorney General Eric Cottier and SP President Jessica Jaccoud. Satisfied climate activists take on the supporting roles, and a piece of nature between La Sarraz and Eclépens serves as the backdrop: the Mormont hill.
In October 2020, environmentalists occupied this hill to prevent the expansion of the quarry by the cement company Lafarge-Holcim. For several months, the authorities allowed the “ZAD” (“zone à défendre”). Finally, on March 30, 2021, the police cleared the camp and temporarily arrested dozens of activists. The public prosecutor’s office subsequently convicted forty people by means of penal orders.
Because the climate activists did not want to accept this, the first trial with seven participants took place in mid-January. This ended in a sensitive defeat for the Vaud public prosecutor’s office. Two “Zadistes” were fully acquitted, and five others received sentences well below the prosecutors’ requests. Attorney General Cottier was in a particularly bad position. He insisted on personally attending the trial, which actually had little formal legal significance, and thus giving it a political note.
«A broom and fresh blood»
For the SP President Jaccoud, who had long since expressed solidarity with the activists, it was the perfect through ball to get in the way of the already unloved Attorney General. Her first column for “Blick Romandie”, where she has recently appeared as a regular author, has it all: “The public prosecutor’s office needs a broom and fresh blood”, it says in the title.
Cottier “made a fool of himself” by maintaining the criminal charge of trespassing, even though Lafarge-Holcim has since withdrawn the charge. If his institution “at least wants to maintain a bit of credibility,” Cottier must immediately annul all penal orders against the other activists, Jaccoud concluded. In short: It is a blessing that he will resign soon anyway. Because with its repressive policy, the Vaud public prosecutor’s office has lost its compass and neglected topics such as domestic violence, financial and cybercrime or offenses against sexual integrity.
The letter to 150 people
Too much is too much, Cottier must have thought as he read these lines. In any case, he reacted in a way that one is not used to from the public prosecutor’s offices, which are usually reticent to the public – he sent a letter to the entire cantonal parliament.
Cottier wrote in the introduction that the law stipulates that the Attorney General should contact the Grand Council directly if the authority’s independence is in danger. In view of Jaccoud’s column, he had to make use of it “with regret”, even if the relevant paragraph was actually designed to allow the cantonal government – and not parliament – to exert influence.
By asking the Attorney General to withdraw the remaining penal orders against the activists, the SP President is trampling on the separation of powers. The public prosecutor’s office must be able to act completely independently. In the letter, which was sent to 150 cantonal councillors, Cottier also vehemently denied the accusation that the public prosecutor’s office paid too little attention to certain crimes. On almost three pages, he listed in detail what the public prosecutor’s office had recently initiated in these areas.
replica to replica
The sleaze comedy would not have been ready for the performance if it had ended with the Attorney General’s reply. Jaccoud did not want to miss another appearance: not only did she publish Cottier’s letter, she also attached a personal assessment to the e-mail. In addition to the independence of the public prosecutor’s office, that of the parliamentarians must also be guaranteed, she wrote – and made another demand: In view of the fact that there is no legal basis for Cottier’s actions, a simple acknowledgment of receipt from the Grand Council office is sufficient in response.
But it’s not that far yet: Its president, the FDP cantonal councilor Laurence Cretegny, is careful not to comment on the cockfight. When asked, she only says that the office will deal with the matter this week – and that nothing like this has ever been experienced in the canton.