Facts
On February 14, 1955, a group of Romanian refugees, consisting of Beldeanu, Codrescu, Chirila and Ochiu, attacked the Romanian embassy in Bern, Switzerland. The attack was carried out with firearms and resulted in the death of the embassy's driver, Setu. The defendants were charged, among other things, with political espionage (art. 272 SCC).
The facts revealed that the defendants had intended to seize confidential documents contained in the embassy's archives, which concerned alleged surveillance activities of the embassy staff against Romanian refugees. The defendants also sought to release people detained in the embassy and to kidnap an embassy employee.
The procedure concerned the question of whether the defendants had acted in the interest of a foreign organization, namely the Romanian resistance movement, and whether their action constituted an act of political espionage to the detriment of the embassy staff.
Considerations
The court examined the elements of political espionage, as defined in article 272 SCC, and considered that the defendants had acted in the interest of a foreign organization, namely the Romanian resistance movement. The court also considered that the defendants had sought to obtain non-public information about the alleged surveillance activities of the embassy staff.
The court also examined the issue of reading previous statements of witnesses who had not been able to appear in person, under article 164 al. 2 FCJA. The court considered that these statements could be read, even if they had been made during the police investigation and not during…