Facts
The Federal Supreme Court dealt with a complaint against a decision of the Federal Criminal Court, which ordered the partial release of assets seized in Switzerland to the Netherlands. The assets were related to criminal proceedings against Appellant 1 for drug trafficking. Appellant 1 was convicted in the Netherlands with legal force to 10 years' imprisonment for the importation of approximately one ton of cocaine. In a separate forfeiture proceeding, he was also ordered to pay an amount of EUR 3.5 million to the Dutch state, as it was credibly established that he had also obtained an unlawful financial advantage from a further cocaine shipment (the so-called "tin transport"). Switzerland had seized various assets of Appellant 1 and Appellant 2 based on a request for legal assistance from the Netherlands. The Federal Criminal Court ordered the release of a portion of these assets up to a maximum amount of EUR 3,126,262.93 to the Netherlands, but upheld the seizure of the remaining amount of EUR 373,737.07 to give the Dutch authorities an opportunity to supplement the request for legal assistance.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court concluded that the granting of legal assistance was compatible with the presumption of innocence under Article 6(2) of the ECHR. The European Court of Human Rights had decided in similar cases that a separate forfeiture proceeding directly linked to a criminal proceeding should not be considered a new charge within the meaning of the ECHR. Since Appellant 1 had been convicted with legal force for the…