Animal rights activists on trial in Nyon for liberating goats
The trial against two animal rights activists began on Tuesday at the police court in Nyon VD. They are accused of having stolen 18 goats in March to prevent them from ending up at the slaughterhouse.
The trial against two animal rights activists began on Tuesday at the police court in Nyon VD. They are accused of having stolen 18 goats in March to prevent them from ending up at the slaughterhouse.
Before the trial began, around a dozen activists demonstrated outside the courthouse to show support for the two accused women, aged 21 and 22. According to the association «269life Libération Animale Suisse», it is the first time in Switzerland that animal welfare activists have stood trial for rescuing animals from slaughter.
The two defendants are accused of having broken into a slaughterhouse in Rolle VD during the night last March to take photographs and steal 18 goats. When questioned by the lawyer representing the livestock owner who had filed the complaint, the two activists showed no remorse whatsoever.
«We cannot always resort to passive resistance alone», said Elisa Keller, one of the accused. «We feel compelled to break the law in order to come to the aid of poor creatures and save them from death», said the defendant. The animals that had been rescued were now living happy lives with the families who had taken them in. Only one of the 18 animals had died of pneumonia.
«We do not live on the same planet», said the opposing side. They called on the court to impose a harsher sentence on the activists than that requested by the public prosecutor. Specifically, they sought an unconditional sentence for the two women on charges of gang theft.
The public prosecutor, by contrast, is seeking a suspended sentence of 60 daily fines of 30 francs each for trespassing and unlawful appropriation. The two defendants should also bear the court costs.
