Facts
A. and B. operated the sauna and fitness club "Atlantis" as co-owners/managing directors in Altendorf. During inspections, a total of 60 women, mostly nationals of the Czech Republic and Hungary, as well as three men, could be checked. The women were engaged in prostitution on the premises of the sauna and fitness club without having the necessary foreign police residence or work permits, and most of them stayed overnight in the club for a fee.
By decision of December 5, 2003, the District Court of March dismissed the criminal proceedings against A. and B. for "repeatedly intentionally employing foreign nationals without a permit" pursuant to Art. 23 para. 4 ANAG due to the statute of limitations. In the same judgment, the court found A. and B. guilty in three cases of repeatedly facilitating the unlawful stay of foreign women in the country pursuant to Art. 23 para. 1 cl. 5 ANAG and sentenced them each to a conditional prison sentence of 10 days and a fine of 2,000 francs.
On February 22, 2005, the Cantonal Court of Schwyz dismissed the appeals filed by both convicts and confirmed the contested judgment. A. and B. are filing a federal nullity appeal with the request to set aside the contested judgment and to remit the case for approval of the appeal and thus their acquittal of guilt and punishment.
Considerations
The lower court has conclusively established that the Hungarian nationals D. and E. entered Switzerland and subsequently engaged in prostitution in the business of the appellants and stayed there for a fee. The appellants knew that the two women did not have a residence or work permit and were therefore unlawfully staying in Switzerland.
According to the case law of the Federal Supreme Court, anyone who employs and accommodates prostitutes who have entered Switzerland with an unlawfully obtained tourist visa and remain here to pursue gainful employment, fulfills the elements of the offense of facilitating the unlawful stay pursuant to Art. 23 para. 1 cl. 5 ANAG.…