Facts
The Federal Court has rendered a judgment in a case where an individual, [S.], was found guilty of having imported and sold war material without the necessary authorizations. The seized objects, including firearms and ammunition, were confiscated by the cantonal court. [S.] filed an appeal against this decision, arguing that the weapons in question belonged to a third party, [W.], who had purchased them from [S.] without knowing the illegality of the transaction.
The facts of the case are as follows: [S.] purchased 26 firearms with acquisition permits, but resold them to third parties without having the required authorization. He also imported five tear gas batons from Germany and sold two in Switzerland. The seized objects include a revolver, a semi-automatic machine gun, tear gas grenades, and ammunition.
The cantonal court sentenced [S.] to four months in prison with a suspended sentence and ordered the confiscation of the seized objects. [S.] filed an appeal against this decision, requesting the annulment of the confiscation and his acquittal.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the question of whether the third party, [W.], could contest the confiscation of the weapons that belonged to him. The court considered that [W.] could not directly contest the confiscation, but that [S.] could do so as the accused.
The court then examined whether the confiscation of the weapons was in accordance with federal law. It considered that the Weapons Act (WMA) prohibited the sale of weapons without authorization and that the confiscation of the weapons was a…