Antirep

General Antirep information:

Important: The hike is authorized. In principle, you do not have to expect police contact. Nevertheless, it is important to be aware of your rights. To be on the safe side, read the following Antirep information

General information:

The only information you need to disclose about yourself is the information on your ID and your home address. Telephone/mobile phone number, place of work/employer or place of education etc. do not have to and should ideally not be disclosed.
The police have the right to check your personal details. Although you are not obliged to carry an ID on you, it is advisable to take one with you when you are out and about in order to avoid trouble or lengthy investigations.
Policewomen must tell you their name on request and plainclothes policewomen must show you their ID.
In the event of assaults, make a note of the names of the police officers, the place, date, time and the names and addresses of any witnesses. This is important for complaints against the police. Report assaults to the police (beatings, verbal abuse, etc.). At the end of this legal aid brochure you will find addresses where you can turn.
Write a reminder about your contact with the police as soon as possible.

Frisking / searches:

Searches in public (e.g. stripping down to your underpants) are not permitted.
However, frisking is permitted (e.g. emptying pockets, feeling for weapons).
Demand that the police search you in your car or at the police station. (You will be detained longer for this)
Only medical personnel (doctors) are allowed to search body orifices. Women* should be searched by women*, men* by men*. Although it is legally possible for men* to search women* (“in case of danger to life and limb”…), we recommend that all women* insist on being searched by women*.

Arrest:

You must be informed of the specific charges of an arrest. Ask about the reason for your arrest and make a note of it for your memory log. The police must also observe the principle of proportionality. They can hold you for 24 hours (48 hours at weekends), after which you must be brought before a magistrate. The police will normally hold you for 1 - 6 hours.
As a general rule, once your identity has been established, the police must let you go immediately if there is no reason for a provisional arrest and no order to produce you. And: You do not have to make any statements (eyes open, mouth shut!) and you have the right to a lawyer.
It is not you who has to prove your innocence, but the police or the investigating judge who has to prove your guilt!

Preventive custody:

The police can temporarily remove you from a place or detain you if, for example, there is “reasonable suspicion” that you are a threat to public safety and order or that you are preventing or interfering with the police in their work.
Please note the following when getting a temporary arrest
- The police must immediately give you the reason for the deprivation of liberty.
- You have the right to inform relatives or trusted persons as soon as possible.
- You have the right to refuse to make a statement and to refuse identification measures.
- The police must have a court decide as soon as possible whether you may continue to be detained.
- The police must release you after 24 hours at the latest or before that if the reason for the provisional arrest no longer applies (e.g. the demonstration or football match is over, public safety and order are no longer at risk, etc.) if a court orders your release.

Refusal to testify:

You are not obliged to make any statement!
You do not have to state: Work (employer, teacher), hobbies, acquaintances, etc. You are not obliged to give this information. Remember: This is where the interrogation begins and all statements can be used against you.
“I have nothing to say” or “I refuse to testify” are the best answers or you can simply remain silent. Shaking your head and or nodding counts as a statement.
Do not allow yourself to be intimidated or provoked. Most threats are bluffs designed to intimidate you.
Do not resist (physically), otherwise you will be liable to prosecution.
If you are detained at the police station for longer than 24 hours (or 48 hours at weekends), demand immediate contact with a lawyer. Legal advice hotline: 031 372 48 43 (office hours)

Identification measures:

Identification measures are fingers. And palm prints, photos, blood, urine and handwriting samples, etc.
The police can take your fingerprints, for example, if
You are suspected of a crime or offense
you have been convicted and have to go to prison or jail
you have been expelled from the country or have been banned from entering the country
You have been deported by the FrePo or are in custody pending extradition
your identity cannot be established in any other way (therefore: always have an ID with you).
This means: If you are arrested during a demonstration, preventively detained (see police custody) or simply taken to the police station, you can refuse to be fingerprinted or photographed. The police themselves cannot force you to do this. Only a judge could force you to do so.

Confiscation:

If the police want to confiscate something (weapons, knives, sprays, money, etc.), ask for a receipt. Items may only be confiscated if they could be used as evidence, are connected to a criminal offense or endanger morality or public order. If confiscated items are legal and not evidence, you can reclaim them later (with the receipt).

Handcuffs:

Handcuffs or shackles are only permitted if there is a risk of escape or a violent confrontation or if several people are being transported.
Our tip: if the handcuffs or plastic cuffs are too tight, ask for them to be loosened.

Injuries:

If you are beaten during arrest or interrogation, handcuffed too tightly so that it hurts or bitten by a police dog, you should ask for this to be recorded in the police report.
After you are released, you should immediately go to a doctor or an emergency room and ask for a medical certificate for your injuries. This will help you later if you make a complaint or press charges against the police officers.

Insults:

If you are abused and insulted by female police officers, you have the option of reporting them. It is an advantage if you have witnesses. Seek advice from a lawyer.

Open your eyes, don’t look away!:

We as citizens (no matter what passport we have) must keep an eye on the police. Open your eyes instead of looking away! As soon as violent, misbehaving police officers realize that they are being watched and that people know their rights, they think twice about what they are doing.
Getting involved is always good and necessary. The risk is that you will be reported (and fined) for obstructing an official act. Therefore: Do not rush in (except in the case of violent assaults), it is better to inform the person concerned about their rights (e.g. refusal to testify) from a certain distance.
Remember the time / place / events in case the victim needs witnesses. Physical violence will only make your situation worse and you risk being reported to the police.
Always remain polite
Try to assert your rights, but don’t be frustrated if it doesn’t work straight away.
If you get a fine, contact a lawyer to find out whether it is worth appealing.
Pass on your knowledge and experience to others.
If you are a victim of assault, you have a legal right to help (contact the victim support center, see addresses)

Additional antirep information:

If you decide to make statements, remember the following:

During questioning, make sure that your statements are recorded correctly (e.g. statements made by police officers are not your own statements).
Read the minutes carefully before signing them. However, you are not obliged to sign the minutes
Despite these tips, we generally recommend refusing to make a statement! Because:
- Most judgments are based much more on statements/confessions than on evidence. So you can be kind to yourself…
- Without evidence and / or confessions, or statements from you or others, they can’t do much.
- If you make statements during the interrogation because you are in withdrawal or in shock, make sure that your condition (withdrawal, shock, etc.) is recorded in the minutes!

Witnesses:

Witnesses are obliged to give evidence unless they have a right to refuse to testify (relatives, self-incrimination, professional secrecy, etc.).
Witnesses under the age of 15 must be questioned by appropriate authorities (see also children and young people).
If the police send you an invitation to give information about a certain matter or incident, you are not obliged to go.
If the police send you a witness summons (usually by registered mail), you must go.

Railroad station / railroad police:

Many things are prohibited in railroad stations (see also prohibition sign). This must be enforced by the railroad police. They may check your ID, detain you temporarily or hand you over to the police. However, the railroad police are only responsible for station areas.
Protectas: may enforce the house rules.
There is the possibility of a station ban (but only in the SBB section). You must be informed of this in writing by SBB.
If you have a valid ticket (train ticket, Bäre-Abi, GA), there is no reason to send you out of the station (except in the case of a violation of the station regulations).

Children / Teenager:

-Children (7 - 15 years) and adolescents (15 - 18 years) also have the right to refuse to give evidence.

The information in this brochure also applies to children and young people. Here is something special: Police in uniform may only be used to question and present children and young people in exceptional cases; in principle, the bodies of the juvenile courts should carry out the necessary official acts and questioning. You can request that you are not questioned and clarified by the uniformed police, but by the appropriate special authorities.
Police investigations and clarifications require permission from the juvenile court, which must be granted in advance and can only be obtained later in urgent cases.
Arrest is only permitted in very rare exceptions. You must be taken to a clinic or a home, not to an ordinary detention center or police prison. If the procedure is not in accordance with the rules, it is strongly recommended that you consult a lawyer so that these procedural errors can be challenged.

Tips for foreigners:

In general:

If you are a foreigner or do not look like a “typical Swiss person”, experience has shown that you will have more problems with the police. This is especially true if you are a foreigner and you are in Switzerland with tourist status or with a temporary or conditional residence permit (e.g. asylum).
Never forget: You have rights too! You can also defend yourself!
Most of the measures that the immigration police (or others) can impose on you are administrative measures, not criminal ones. You always have the option of lodging an appeal against such measures. Appeals usually have a suspensive effect, i.e. the measures are only valid once a court has ruled on your appeal. However, appeals have recently had their suspensive effect withdrawn in advance, so you should also apply to have the suspensive effect restored. Seek advice from a lawyer.

Rayon ban:

This allows the immigration police to prohibit you from entering a certain area (train station, city of Bern, etc.) or leaving a certain area (e.g. Canton of Bern). The prerequisite is that you are disturbing or endangering “public safety and order”. If you then violate such a legally binding order, you can be charged with a violation of this exclusion order. However, a zone ban (exclusion or confinement) is only legally binding if the order has been issued to you personally and in writing and you have not lodged an appeal against it. Therefore, here too: Submit an appeal (and apply for the suspensive effect to be restored)!

Departure deadline:

If you are given a deadline to leave the country, i.e. you have to leave Switzerland by a certain date, you must act quickly. File an appeal - this has a partially suspensive effect, i.e. the departure deadline is postponed due to legal clarification of your case. Recently, many appeals have had their suspensive effect withdrawn. In these cases, the deadline for departure continues to run despite the appeal. Once the deadline for departure has expired, you are staying in Switzerland illegally (although your appeal is still being processed). Therefore: Submit an application to restore the suspensive effect of your appeal.

Deportation:

Detention pending deportation is only permissible if the deadline set for leaving the country has passed unused and/or you do not help to obtain the necessary papers, i.e. you do not attend the appointments with the authorities to obtain papers.
You also have legal remedies in custody pending deportation! You can lodge an appeal against detention pending deportation with the Federal Supreme Court! After 30 days you can apply to the detention court for release from detention.
Important: The police and authorities may only deport you to your home country, not to another country!
If you leave Switzerland before the deadline for leaving the country has expired, you may also travel to a country other than your home country or choose your own route.

Entry ban:

If you violate the local legal system, the immigration police can impose an entry ban on you and you will no longer be allowed to enter Switzerland for a certain period of time. The entry ban lasts 2 years or more.
You must be notified in writing of the entry ban and any time limit for leaving the country, otherwise it is not valid. So if you are simply placed at the border by the police without them giving you anything in writing, the entry ban is not yet valid.
You can lodge an appeal against the entry ban. Contact a lawyer.
In most cases, the suspensive effect of these appeals is withdrawn, i.e. the entry ban does not only apply once a decision has been made on the appeal, but immediately upon receipt of the notification from the FrePo. You should therefore submit a request for the suspensive effect to be restored at the same time as the appeal. Outside Switzerland, it is usually difficult to follow the success or failure of your appeal.

Language problems:

It is your fundamental right to consult a translator when you are in contact with the police, immigration police and other authorities. It is therefore highly recommended that you make use of this right.
The German language is always a foreign language and it is not possible to understand all the details and subtleties. If you are asked to sign a protocol, insist on a translation into a language you understand well (you are not obliged to sign protocols).