Facts
The appellants, [X.] and [Y.] , were convicted of violating the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals by promoting the unlawful entry of seven Syrian family members. The family members entered Switzerland at the Au customs office on November 21, 2015, without possessing the required visas. The appellants had previously applied for humanitarian visas and appealed the dismissive decisions, but to no avail.
The Cantonal Court of St. Gallen sentenced the appellants to a conditionally enforceable fine of 40 daily rates of CHF 80.-- and CHF 10.--, respectively, with a probation period of two years. The appellants requested the annulment of the decision and their acquittal from the charge of promoting unlawful entry.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the appellants' justifying and exculpatory grounds. It found that the appellants had fulfilled the objective and subjective elements of Art. 116 para. 1 lit. a of the Foreign Nationals Act. The appellants claimed that they had acted in a justifying or excusable emergency, as the family members had been immediately health-endangered in a refugee camp in Innsbruck.
However, the Federal Court denied the emergency, as the appellants had not proven that the family members had actually been health-endangered. It stated that the appellants had also not proven that they had no other options to help the family members without violating the Foreign Nationals Act.
The Federal Court also examined the appellants' claim that they had been under an error regarding the unlawfulness. However, it found that the appellants had at least had an indefinite…