Facts
In this judgment, the Federal Supreme Court addresses the question of whether the two prosecutors B. and C. must recuse themselves in the criminal proceedings against the Turkish national A. A. had requested the recusal of the prosecutors, claiming an appearance of bias.
The proceedings were conducted by the Public Prosecutor's Office X., which accused A., among other things, of being an accomplice in an intentional homicide and of dealing in narcotics. Since July 2012, A. has been in pre-trial detention.
The High Court of the Canton of Thurgau dismissed A.'s request for recusal. Thereupon, A. filed a criminal complaint with the Federal Supreme Court, requesting that prosecutors B. and C. be obliged to recuse themselves.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upholds the complaint and establishes the obligation of B. and C. to recuse themselves in the proceedings against A.
According to the case law, a prosecutor can be rejected if there are circumstances that are objectively capable of creating the appearance of bias. Erroneous orders and procedural acts of the prosecutor do not in themselves give rise to the appearance of partiality. However, this is different if there are particularly gross or repeated errors that constitute a serious breach of official duties.
In the present case, prosecutors B. and C. have committed numerous and partly gross procedural errors. In addition,…