Facts
The appellant, a Macedonian citizen born in 1987, entered Switzerland in 1991 and was granted a settlement permit. In 2010, he was sentenced to a conditional prison sentence of 24 months for qualified violation of the Narcotics Act and multiple cases of aiding and abetting drug trafficking. The Migration Office of the Canton of Thurgau subsequently revoked the settlement permit and expelled the appellant from Switzerland. The cantonal legal remedies remained without success.
The appellant had stored, transported, and brokered heroin in the amount of several kilograms. He was not in a state of financial or personal distress and was not himself addicted. His relationships with his family, who were entitled to stay in Switzerland, and his integration into Swiss society did not deter him from participating in drug trafficking.
Considerations
The Federal Court confirmed the revocation of the settlement permit. The appellant was convicted of serious crimes that endangered public safety and order. The lower court assumed that a serious violation of public safety and order existed, which the appellant did not dispute.
The Federal Court weighed the interests and found that the public interest in expelling the appellant prevailed. The appellant had seriously violated public safety and order, and there was a public interest in ending his presence in Switzerland.
The Federal Court also considered the case law of the…