The chief judges overturn the acquittal of the second instance and instruct the cantonal court to assess the sentence. What does that mean for Maudet’s political comeback, which has already been launched?
In 2021, the Geneva Police Court sentenced Pierre Maudet to a conditional fine. The cantonal court later acquitted him.
The verdict had been long awaited, and there will be a lot to talk about: Pierre Maudet, long-time Geneva State Councilor and former Federal Council candidate, must be sentenced for his luxury trip to Abu Dhabi. This is what the Federal Supreme Court writes in its judgment of October 31. It is still unclear to what extent the former FDP high-flyer should be punished. The Geneva cantonal court must now decide that.
As a reminder, Maudet traveled to the Arabian Peninsula for five days in November 2015 with his family and chief of staff. The program included a visit to the Formula 1 race, various semi-official meetings and hours of fun in one of the most expensive hotels in the world. Cost: around 50,000 francs. The Emirati royal family settled the bill in full – which Maudet initially concealed.
In February 2021, the Geneva police court sentenced Pierre Maudet and his confidants to a conditional fine for accepting (or granting) an advantage. In December of the same year, the cantonal court acquitted those affected of the allegations, although it also judged the assumed advantage to be “unjustified”. For the second instance, there was no evidence that the royal family granted the benefit with the intention of influencing the Council of State and its chief of staff, Patrick Baud-Lavigne, in the exercise of their functions.
The case goes back to the district court
The Federal Supreme Court is now putting a stop to this argument: It not only states that the trip gave him an “undue” advantage. The judges also say that – contrary to what the cantonal court ruled – an unlawful granting of an advantage and an unlawful acceptance of an advantage are not necessarily mutually dependent. Rather, the behavior of the person who grants the advantage and the person who accepts it “can each be punishable on their own”.
Pierre Maudet and his chief of staff would have been guilty of accepting an advantage. Magid Khoury and Antoine Vom, who had arranged the trip, are to be regarded as perpetrators or as accomplices because of the granting of advantages.
The Federal Supreme Court thus overturned the second-instance judgment and referred the case back to the Geneva Cantonal Court. However, since the guilt of Maudet and his confidants has been established, the cantonal court’s legal leeway is severely limited. It must now primarily decide on the sentence.
Political comeback
It will be interesting to see to what extent the Federal Supreme Court ruling will affect Maudet’s political career. After resigning from the Geneva State Council and becoming his own successor, he was not confirmed in office in spring 2021 and subsequently took up a position in the private sector.
A few weeks ago, however, he announced that he wanted to return to the political stage. He is standing in the government elections – after being kicked out of the FDP as a non-party candidate. The ballot will take place next April.
more to come.