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First black Member of Swiss Parliament acquitted
The Federal Supreme Court cleared Ricardo Lumengo, the first black Member of the Swiss National Council, of electoral fraud. Despite legal acquittal, the political career of Mr Lumengo is in limbo.
By Michael Burkard*
13 February 2012
Exemplary Career
Ricardo Lumengo, born 1962 in Angola, entered Switzerland in 1982 as an asylum seeker. After being recognised as a refugee and granted permanent residence, he studied law at the University of Fribourg. Mr Lumengo was naturalised as a Swiss citizen in 1997. He joined the Swiss Social Democratic Party (SPS) and was elected to the municipal council of Biel-Bienne in 2004. In 2006, Mr Lumengo was elected to the Grand Council of the canton of Bern. Only one year later, Mr Lumengo was elected to the Swiss National Council as first National Councillor of African origin and former asylum seeker. In this regard, however, respect shall be paid to the remarkable personality of Mrs Tilo Frey. Descendant of a Cameroonian mother and a Swiss father, Mrs Frey was a pioneer of women’s rights as well as a forerunner for politicians of African ancestry serving in the National Council 1971-1975.
Convicted at First Instance
Soon after his election to the National Council, Ricardo Lumengo found himself confronted with allegations of having committed electoral fraud. In particular, Mr Lumengo was accused of having forged ballot papers of the 2006 Grand Council elections and the 2007 National Council elections. Mr Lumengo denied the charges regarding electoral fraud. On the other hand, however, Mr Lumengo admitted having helped immigrants to fill in ballot papers. By admittedly doing so by his own hand, it was unclear whether Mr Lumengo would fall within the legal prerequisites of electoral fraud or the lower offence of vote catching. In November 2010, the regional court of Biel-Bienne found Mr Lumengo guilty of electoral fraud by having forged 44 ballot papers of the 2006 Grand Council elections.
Acquittals by Higher Courts
The next higher instance, the Cantonal Court of Bern, acquitted Ricardo Lumengo of the electoral fraud charges in May 2010. The Public Prosecutor of the Canton of Bern, however, did not accept the acquittal of the Cantonal Court and appealed the case to the Federal Supreme Court. In February 2012, the Federal Supreme Court dismissed the public prosecutor’s appeal, thereby confirming the acquittal of the previous Cantonal Court. Yet, commentators were pointing at the fact that the Federal Supreme Court, by upholding the findings of the Cantonal Court, also confirmed elements incriminating Mr Lumengo. In particular, it was established that Mr Lumengo had, in fact, committed the minor offence of vote catching. Hence, it was only due to a lapse of time that Mr Lumengo escaped appropriate conviction. As a consequence, Mr Lumengo was denied compensation and burdened with court fees.
Political Comeback?
After his conviction by the regional court of Biel-Bienne in 2010, the Social Democratic Party quickly urged Ricardo Lumengo to resign from the National Council. Mr Lumengo, instead, left the Social Democratic Party and joined the Social Liberal Movement. In 2011, Mr Lumengo tried to defend his seat in the National Council as frontrunner of the Social Liberal Movement, but failed. With view on the final clearance by the Federal Supreme Court, Mr Lumengo expressed his determination to pursue his political career. But as long as Mr Lumengo is lacking support from a well-established political party, any comeback in national politics seems rather unlikely. The Social Liberal Movement, Mr Lumengo’s new ally, fetched a meagre 0.3 percentage of votes in the 2011 elections.
*Dr. iur. Michael Burkard is a lawyer practising in Bern/Switzerland.
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