Facts
On June 17, 1977, the Jury Court of the Canton of Zurich convicted the French national [F.] of various criminal offenses and ordered the definitive confiscation of a total of CHF 589,529.10. Amounts were used for compensation of victims and to cover costs, the remainder was forfeited in favor of the Canton of Zurich.
On September 28, 1984, the Italian national X., who allegedly had been kidnapped by a gang to which [F.] and a woman R. were said to have belonged and released against ransom, filed a request with the High Court of the Canton of Zurich for the return of the confiscated money. He claimed that it was the ransom money he had paid.
The High Court dismissed the request on April 1, 1986, as it could not be conclusively determined where the confiscated funds originated from. Furthermore, any ownership right of X. to the money had been extinguished by commingling and exchange of the Lira amounts. The legally binding confiscation of the money in favor of the victims and the state also precluded the request.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upheld the rejection of the request. It stated that X. had no civil law ownership of the confiscated money, as this had been extinguished by the actions of the perpetrators. Therefore, he could not invoke Art.…