Justice minister Simonetta Sommaruga said she is «shocked» that a convicted rapist escaped from prison and is suspected of having murdered his therapist. At the same time she is opposed to a database for dangerous criminals.
The cabinet is not in favour of a national registry for particularly dangerous offenders, a claim voiced again after the homicide in Geneva. Such a register would not improve the situation, Sommaruga told Swiss Radio SRF.
Once more the question has arisen whether it is necessary to make changes to the legislation or the enforcement in individual cantons to prevent crimes by re-offenders, Sommaruga said. She welcomes, however, that the cantons ask themselves that question, Sommaruga told SRF.
On September 12, a convicted rapist met his therapist for their weekly horse riding therapy session. On the way to the equestrian centre, the suspect was allowed to buy a knife. The body of the therapist was found the following day. The suspect was arrested in the Polish-German border area on Sunday.
Currently, every Swiss canton has different laws about how to punish offenders and how to treat them while they are serving their sentences.
Following two recent cases of re-offense with deadly consequences – this most recent case and that of 19-year-old Marie, killed in May by her boyfriend who was serving out his murder sentence under house arrest – politicians have cried out for a standardised nationwide justice system and a database of sex offenders.
The cabinet has previously said that it is opposed to such a registry. One point is that it would be difficult to set the criteria, which qualify an individual as «dangerous», the cabinet has said. The government has said it trusts the cantonal enforcement authorities to identify and supervise dangerous offenders.
At the same time, the cantons have in the past been opposed to such a database and have said that it is difficult to get the necessary data. The cantons are currently reviewing and improving their processes.