Facts
The appellant [X.] was convicted by the Federal Criminal Court for violating the Goods Control Act (GCA). The indictment concerned the export of goods to Iran without the required authorization. The appellant had delivered goods from Switzerland to a company in Tehran via a company in Malaysia without submitting the required notification to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
SECO had ordered the appellant by decision of August 3, 2004, to report in writing all planned exports of goods to Iran that fall under certain customs chapters. The appellant had not made this notification and had exported the goods without SECO's consent.
The lower court had found the appellant guilty of intentional violation of the GCA pursuant to Article 14(1)(a) GCA and sentenced him to a fine of 70 daily rates of CHF 100.--, conditionally enforceable with a probation period of two years, and a fine of CHF 2,000.--.
Considerations
The Federal Court upheld the appellant's appeal and overturned the judgment of the Federal Criminal Court. The court found that the appellant's behavior did not fulfill the offense of Article 14(1)(a) GCA, as the export of the goods was not subject to authorization and the notification to SECO did not replace the required authorization.
The court also found that the appellant did not fulfill the offense variants of…