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For the first time, a court had to rule on the violation of the notification requirement for entry quarantine. Thomas Baumann filed an objection to the sanction order and defended himself before the Zurzach District Court. Unusual for a defendant: he explicitly asked the media representatives to give his name. “I don’t have to hide anything,” he says. But he does not reveal why he was tried 15 years ago.
No permanent residence in Switzerland
A chapter with which he wants to close, he says. In Ukraine, where he lives now, he has found a country where he “shouldn’t feel fallible.” Baumann regularly travels between Ukraine and Switzerland, so far “128 by car and 76 times by plane”, as he explains to judge Cyrill Kramer. What you do outside of Switzerland is a private matter. In general, he is not very cooperative, he just wants to read a self-written description of the situation and not make any statements.
At the end of August he traveled to Ukraine, shortly after the country was classified as a risk zone by Switzerland. On September 11, he flew back to Zurich, from a “stable country of Corona to the hotspot of Switzerland,” he explains. Baumann explains that he no longer has a permanent residence in Switzerland, only a postal address in the Zurzach district.
There is no internet to inform the canton
He knew that Ukraine was classified as a risk zone at the time and that he would have to go into quarantine ten days after entering the country. He did not reject this, but immediately tried to find a way to quarantine himself, which is difficult if he does not have a place of residence. He spent one night in the car, and only after 48 hours’ reporting obligation did he finally find accommodation with a friend in Aarau.
Throughout, Baumann claims that he did not have the Internet to inform the canton. His smartphone was too small for him to write the message to the canton. In general, it was more important for him to organize self-quarantine: “What is more important: do not infect anyone or report?” You thought it was “no longer appropriate” to send your return notice after the deadline. “That is my personal opinion,” he said.
Defendant: “Honecker would have the greatest joy”
Consequently, the sanction order came in early October: a fine of 500 francs, the same as a sanction order fee. Had it been corona positive, he would have tacitly accepted the penalty order, Baumann said. However, since he only had contact with two people in Ukraine, was still corona-negative and presumably did not infect anyone, he applied for a waiver of any fault at no cost.
“It is easier for the state to point the finger at so-called ordinary citizens than to do its own homework,” he politicized in his statement. On the sidelines of the negotiation, he mentions that it was “a bit revolutionary.” He links the obligation to report to a state of vigilance: “Honecker would have the greatest pleasure.”
Judge Kramer made clear in his verdict that it was not about politics. “The legal base is regulated, quarantine is also mandatory,” he said. He ordered Baumann to pay 1,000 francs in line with the indictment. “In view of its lack of transparency and the fact that it has deliberately failed to inform the canton, it is still well complied with this sanction,” he said.
