For a long time, the judiciary regarded the criminal Brian as highly dangerous. But now the Zurich Supreme Court has decided to set him free.
He is probably the best-known prisoner in Switzerland: Brian. One where opinions differ. Brian has already spent ten years of his life behind bars after delinquent as a teenager and becoming famous through politically controversial special settings.
For some, the 27-year-old is therefore an incorrigible criminal, for others a victim of the media and the judiciary.
Now Brian is free again for the time being. In an order dated October 31, the Zurich Supreme Court decided that the young man must be released from custody within the next few days. Without substitute measures – i.e. without obligation to report or ban on districts.
The High Court stated in its decision that the preventive detention was no longer proportionate. The reason: The 27-year-old has been in pre-trial and preventive detention without interruption since September 28, 2017, i.e. for more than five years. He has thus already served the prison sentence of four years and nine months imposed by the Dielsdorf district court in the first instance.
Explosive twist in federal court
The case of the criminal known under the pseudonym “Carlos” has taken new turns in recent years. The trigger for the current proceedings was an incident that occurred at the end of June 2017 in a consultation room at the Pöschwies prison. According to the indictment, Brian is said to have physically assaulted supervisors at the time. There were also numerous other allegations: simple bodily harm, property damage as well as verbal abuse and threats, all committed behind prison walls.
The Zurich High Court increased the prison sentence to six years and four months in May 2021. But in November 2021, things took a surprising turn: the Federal Supreme Court referred the case back to the Supreme Court for reassessment.
In its decision, the Federal Supreme Court held that the lower court had to deal with the prison conditions to which the young man had already been exposed in his life. In addition, it criticized that the circumstances of Brian’s previous sentences and coercive measures had not been adequately processed.
The outcome of this new appointment process is still open. But it is clear that there is now a risk of excessive detention. So a preventive detention, which in the end lasts longer than the actual prison sentence.
According to the Supreme Court, however, pre-trial and preventive detention are only permissible if an accused person is strongly suspected of having committed a crime. And if there is a serious fear that the accused person will significantly endanger the safety of others through serious crimes or misdemeanors. In addition, the preventive detention must not last longer than the imprisonment to be expected.
Significant penalty reduction is up for debate
In the case of Brian, however, according to the Supreme Court, a significant reduction in sentence and not an increase in sentence is up for discussion at the upcoming appeal hearing.
It also cannot be ruled out that Brian will be acquitted of all allegations.
The crucial question is: did Brian only commit an offense because he rebelled against inhuman prison conditions? The young offender’s attorneys are claiming such an emergency situation. To do this, they used the conditions of execution in the past. Brian has repeatedly been treated inhumanely and degradingly since he was 10 years old. And the conditions of solitary confinement he has been in for over three years amounted to torture.
It’s about the phase that Brian spent in solitary confinement in the Pöschwies prison. Most of the time the young man was almost completely isolated from his surroundings. He spent 23 hours a day in a cell set up especially for him, without contact with other inmates. Once a week he was allowed to receive visitors – behind a bulletproof glass pane.
Outside the cell, Brian was always tied to his hands and feet with shackles, even when he went out in the yard every day. The reason: he is a danger to himself and others.
It is therefore clear to Brian’s lawyers: their client cannot be accused of the behavior he is accused of towards the prison guards. On the contrary: it was justified.
The Supreme Court also considers it unlikely that the prison sentence will be increased or that the young man will be kept in custody. With regard to the detention requested by the public prosecutor’s office, it states that no such instance has yet been ordered.
Date of appeal hearing yet to be announced
A date for the new appeal hearing has not yet been set. Although there were preliminary hearings in the summer, according to the High Court, both the public prosecutor’s office and the defense have again submitted several applications for evidence, some of which were time-consuming.
Among other things, the public prosecutor’s office requires extensive investigations into Brian’s previous detention and prison conditions. Based on this, the public prosecutor wants the psychiatric report on the prisoner to be supplemented or even completely rewritten. The Supreme Court also states that it is quite possible that further applications will be made, so that the appeal procedure could be drawn out even further.
Brian himself has been in a relaxed regime in Zurich prison since January of this year. Since then it has become noticeably quieter around him. The Higher Court stated that apart from an incident with a fellow inmate, in which the 27-year-old pushed his opponent away, there had been no further acts of violence.
The Zurich Department of Justice drew a similar balance sheet this fall «NZZ on Sunday». At the time, the Office for Prisons and Reintegration stated: “It shows that the transfer and the change in the prison and care settings have actually brought about the hoped-for relaxation of the situation.”
The Supreme Court held that the positive development should be appreciated in Brian’s favour. However, it leaves open whether the accused has now gotten a permanent grip on his previously shown propensity for violence.
The decision on the release from prison is not yet final. An appeal can be lodged with the Federal Supreme Court. Whether that will happen is an open question. The public prosecutor’s office writes on request that they take note of the decision of the higher court and are examining possible further steps.
From Brian’s side, on the other hand, it can be heard that they are happy that they were right about the question of release from prison.