Original Link [German]

https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/hunderte-bussen-glarner-polizei-soll-beweisbilder-manipuliert-haben

English Translation

An automa­tive driver fights a speeding fine. The Glarus Higher Court has now acquitted him for the second time.

About 600 car and motorcycle drivers received mail in spring 2021 from the Glarus police. They had been caught by a speed camera while driving over the Kerenzerberg (canton of Glarus). The speed camera was set up on a stretch normally limited to 80 km/h, but because of a construction site access road, the limit was temporarily 50 km/h.

Markus Liver did not accept the fine and went to court. His argument was that the 50-km/h sign was poorly visible and therefore invalid. The Higher Court initially sided with Markus Liver. However, the Federal Court ruled differently and sent the case back to the lower court.

The Glarus Higher Court has now examined the validity of the speeding ticket again and acquitted him again. In doing so, the case took an unexpected turn that does not reflect well on the work of the Glarus cantonal police. The judgment is not yet legally binding.

Police Photos Under Suspicion of Manipulation

The accusation:
the responsible police officer may have manipulated photos. These photos were supposed to show the exact location of the signs around the speed control area. According to the Federal Roads Office (Astra), such photos are mandatory—especially in case of a legal dispute. But: in the Glarus case files, there initially appeared to be no official police photo from the actual time of the control in early April 2021.

Afterward, the investigative authority requested such a photo from the cantonal police. According to the judgment, the court says that the photo could not possibly have been taken during the disputed time period around Easter 2021. The court compared the vegetation in the background: in the police’s version, the trees already had leaves, while in a private photo from early April showing the same spot, the trees were still bare.

The Higher Court therefore concludes that the situation was reenacted by the police and photographed again without disclosing this.

Police Handling and Consequences

The same police officer was responsible for all of the speed checks. According to the court, he also made “grossly inconsistent statements” about the location of the traffic sign. The court’s judgment refers to manipulative conduct. It states:

“With such sloppy work by a police officer (…) it is simply not possible to determine whether a 50 km/h speed limit was even signaled above the measuring point at Easter 2021.”

Therefore, the driver must be acquitted.

The Glarus cantonal police say they acknowledge the Higher Court’s ruling. Commander Richard Schmidt says:

“Even though the judgment is not yet legally binding, the case will be processed internally. We want to understand exactly what happened.”

It is still unclear what will happen with the other nearly 600 speeding fines that the police issued.

For Markus Liver, the situation is clear. What the police did here was shocking, he says, adding:

“The Glarus police should have admitted their mistake instead of dragging the case all the way to the Federal Court, which took many years.”

Next Steps

In addition to Markus Liver’s case, four other similar cases are still pending at the court. If the Higher Court’s judgment becomes legally binding, those fines would also likely be void—and possibly the fines of many of the nearly 600 drivers too.