Facts
The Cantonal Court of Graubünden convicted H. of hostage-taking pursuant to Art. 185 para. 1 and 2 of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC) and criminal preparatory acts pursuant to Art. 260bis para. 1 SCC to three and a half years of penitentiary. H. filed a nullity appeal with the request to be acquitted of the charge of hostage-taking and criminal preparatory acts, and instead be found guilty of deprivation of liberty and abduction within the meaning of Art. 183 and 184 SCC.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that according to the wording of Art. 185 para. 1 SCC, any person who is not identical to the perpetrator and the hostage, including relatives of the latter, is to be understood as a "third party" within the meaning of this provision. Thus, the perpetrator is also punishable as a hostage-taker if he takes possession of the hostage with the intention of coercing a third party to pay a ransom. The Federal Supreme Court sees no reason to consider only the risk of the hostage in the interpretation of Art. 185 para. 1 SCC and its delimitation from Art. 184 para. 2 SCC.
With regard to the criminal preparatory acts pursuant to Art. 260bis SCC, the Federal Supreme Court finds that more than one month elapsed between the preparatory acts committed on December 10, 1984 and the subsequent hostage-taking on January 21, 1985. Therefore, the close temporal sequence of preparation, execution and completion of the act, which would…