Facts
On November 26, 2018, the District Court of Werdenberg-Sarganserland sentenced the appellant [A.] to 2 years' imprisonment and 10 daily penalty units, suspended, as well as a fine of CHF 300 for attempted grievous bodily harm, defamation, multiple minor traffic offenses, and driving an unsafe vehicle. Furthermore, the District Court ordered a 10-year expulsion from Switzerland and its entry in the Schengen Information System. On appeal by [A.] and the public prosecutor's cross-appeal, the Cantonal Court of St. Gallen reduced the expulsion to 5 years on February 19, 2020, but otherwise confirmed the first-instance decision. [A.] filed a criminal law appeal with the Federal Supreme Court, requesting that the expulsion from Switzerland and the entry in the Schengen Information System be waived; alternatively, the case should be remanded to the Cantonal Court for a new assessment.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the appeal. It explains that the lower court has convincingly justified why it does not see a serious personal hardship within the meaning of Art. 66a para. 2 of the Swiss Criminal Code and why it considers the public interests in an expulsion to outweigh the private interests of the appellant and his family. Although the appellant, who entered Switzerland at the age of 20, was able to settle in Switzerland due to family reunification, he spent the majority of his life, especially his formative childhood and youth years, in his home country of North Macedonia. Even though he has started a family in Switzerland, he is familiar with the language and culture of his country of origin and can maintain relationships with his family there. Furthermore, his professional and personal integration in Switzerland is not considered particularly strong. Given the severity of the offense and the risk of recidivism, the public interests in an expulsion outweigh…