Facts
On May 9, 1999, Congolese national X. was to be deported from Switzerland on a Swissair flight from Zurich-Kloten to Kinshasa, with a stopover in Yaoundé (Cameroon). During the flight, between Zurich and Yaoundé, X. scratched the right arm of police officer [A.] with his nails while the latter was attempting to apply adhesive tape to his mouth. During the stopover in Yaoundé, X. also threw a punch in the direction of officer B., without hitting him, and delivered a violent headbutt to the face of officer [A.], causing a broken nose. Following these acts of violence and the intervention of other passengers supporting X., the deportation attempt was interrupted, and X. was returned to Switzerland.Considerations
1. According to Art. 97(1) AviA, Swiss criminal law applies to offences committed on board a Swiss aircraft outside Swiss territory. This applies even if the aircraft was on the ground at the time of the offence, as X. and the police officers were still on board the aircraft. 2. Art. 11(4) AviA provides that the provisions of the law on the territorial validity of criminal law provisions take precedence, in this case Art. 97(1) AviA. Therefore, the question of whether Cameroonian law should have been applied mandatorily under Art. 11(3) AviA does not arise. Swiss criminal law applies in any case to offences committed on board a Swiss aircraft abroad. 3. Neither the 1963…