Facts
The appellant [A.] was sentenced by the District Court of Zurich on 25 August 2020 to a custodial sentence of 43 months for attempted serious bodily harm and multiple violations of the Weapons Act. An appeal was lodged against this judgment. The appellant is in pre-trial detention, which was extended by decision of 25 August 2020 until 25 February 2021, but no later than the commencement of the sentence. A complaint filed by [A.] was dismissed by the Higher Court and, in the last instance, by the Federal Court. By order of 17 February 2021, the Higher Court extended the pre-trial detention until the final decision of the appeal instance.
The appellant requests with a criminal appeal to the Federal Court of 1 March 2021 that the order of 17 February 2021 be revoked and that he be released from pre-trial detention immediately. In the alternative, the matter should be referred back to the lower court.
Considerations
The Federal Court considered the admissibility requirements according to Art. 78 ff. FSCA as fulfilled and entered into the appeal. The appellant claims that the continuation of pre-trial detention after the first-instance conviction constitutes a violation of Art. 5 ECHR. However, the Federal Court found that the judgment of the ECHR does not indicate that the continuation of pre-trial detention would be contrary to the Convention.
The appellant also disputes the strong suspicion of having committed a crime and the risk of recidivism. However, the Federal Court found that the party disputing the strong suspicion of having committed a crime, contrary to the first-instance conviction, must demonstrate why the relevant judgment clearly appears to be flawed and why a corresponding correction can be expected with significant probability in the appeal proceedings. This requirement was…