Facts
On December 9, 1982, [S.] was found by the Zurich City Police at Predigerplatz while he was in the process of affixing a poster with the title "Stop Demolition at Tessinerplatz!!!" to a traffic signal board. The text of the poster contained calls for arson attacks, property damage, and other acts of violence against "profiteers of the city center".
The High Court of the Canton of Zurich subsequently convicted [S.] of public incitement to crime and violence pursuant to Art. 259 para. 1 and 2 of the Swiss Criminal Code, as well as another offense, and sentenced him to a term of imprisonment.
[S.] filed a nullity appeal against this judgment, requesting that it be overturned and the case be remanded to the lower court for a new decision.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It held that the concept of "incitement" within the meaning of Art. 259 para. 1 and 2 of the Swiss Criminal Code does not require that the offense being incited is explicitly named. It is sufficient if the target of the incitement is recognizable to the impartial reader from the overall context of the appeal.
In the present case, the reader of the poster text could easily recognize that it called for arson attacks, property damage, and other acts of violence. The fact that the poster was posted in a publicly accessible place was also sufficient to assume a public incitement within the…