Fear of her husband Woman pretends to be her cousin for 17 years

For 17 years, a woman pretended to be her own cousin. Then she was discovered during a police check and was convicted. Now the Zurich High Court has reduced her sentence.

A woman and her two children fled to Switzerland in 2002. She was granted temporary admission and later received a B residence permit. The reason for her flight at the time: the civil war in Somalia. But that's not quite true.

The now 51-year-old woman fled the civil war back in 1992, when she was just 20 years old. She went to Italy, where she married a fellow countryman and had two children.

On the run from her husband

But in the summer of 2002, she had to flee again, as the "Landbote" writes. This time from her violent husband. So she traveled to Switzerland, applied for asylum and claimed that she had fled Somalia a few days earlier. She doesn't mention her years in Italy. At this point, she no longer uses her own name, but that of her deceased cousin.

For 17 years, she lived in this country under a false identity. In between, however, she also lived in Italy under her real name, where she obtained citizenship in 2010. She concealed this in her applications for a residence permit in Switzerland.

She was caught by a police check

But she was discovered in June 2019. She was stopped by the police in Rheinau ZH. She showed her Italian ID with her real name. However, when the police wanted to take her fingerprints, she resisted. These prints eventually led to the name of her deceased cousin.

Around three and a half years later, the woman was finally brought before the Andelfingen district court. The court sentenced her to a conditional fine of 40 daily rates of 40 francs each for obstructing an official act and deceiving the authorities. In other words, a total of 1,600 francs and a fine of 400 francs.

But the woman does not agree with this, as the "Landbote" writes. She lodged an appeal and took the case to the Zurich High Court. There she justifies her actions: "Out of fear of my husband, I lived under a false identity." She was afraid that he would find her and take the children away from her.

Defense lawyer demands acquittal

Her defense lawyer is demanding acquittal, just as he did at the Andelfingen district court. His client had deceived the authorities out of an emergency situation. From today's perspective, it is questionable whether there is a need for punishment. His client had integrated perfectly. And as an Italian citizen, she was allowed to live and work in Switzerland anyway.

Furthermore, there was no obstruction of an official act. "Without an order from the public prosecutor's office, the police would not have been allowed to take her fingerprints," said the defense lawyer.

The High Court confirmed the guilty verdict for deceiving the authorities. They sentenced the defendant to a conditional fine of 1,000 francs. In other words, 25 daily rates of 40 francs each.

The woman was acquitted of refusing to give fingerprints, as a refusal would only have been punishable if ordered by the public prosecutor.

The accused must pay half of the costs of the proceedings. That is 5550 francs.