And Now, a Giggly Swiss Minister’s Take on Cured Meats (Update: Explained)

Staff / Truthdig Sep 28, 2010 Here we see the now-viral footage of Swiss finance minister Hans-Rudolf Merz, 67, who is on the brink of retirement and quite able to appreciate the lighter side of some of his bureaucratic duties, such as discussing the apparently amusing matter of cured meat imports. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Swiss May Consider Death Penalty Reboot

Staff / Truthdig Aug 24, 2010 Thanks to the country's democratic signatory system, the Swiss government may soon be compelled to reconsider the "neutral" nation's official stance on the death penalty in certain cases if its supporters are successful in drumming up 100,000 signatures by late February. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Sex, Drugs and Roman Polanski

David Coleman / Truthdig Jul 13, 2010 The 34-year-old lens through which we view Roman Polanski’s crime is clouded because society’s viewpoint about his “sex crime” has swung in the opposite direction from that of a drug crime.Should a crime be viewed through a lens adjusted to the era during which the crime was committed? Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Polanski and Unmitigated Gall

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Jul 13, 2010 For Roman Polanski, the long, unspeakable nightmare of being confined to his three-story chalet in Gstaad, the luxury resort in the Swiss Alps, is finally over. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Swiss Set Polanski Free

Staff / Truthdig Jul 12, 2010 Roman Polanski is a lucky man -- and as of Monday, he's also a free man after a Swiss judge decided that the justification for Polanski's extradition to the U.S. was flawed. So, the "freedom-restricting measures against him have been revoked." Updated Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Polanski Speaks

Staff / Truthdig May 3, 2010 Declaring that he only wants "to be treated fairly like everyone else," auteur-in-exile Roman Polanski spoke out on his own behalf on Sunday via his ally Bernard-Henri Lévy's website, claiming that there are "no grounds" for his extradition to the U.S. to face charges related to his decades-old sexual assault case. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

No Lawyers for Swiss Animals

Staff / Truthdig Mar 8, 2010 In a referendum in which 70 percent voted "no," the people of Switzerland have decided against a proposed law that would have assigned lawyers to defend animals in court. In its defense, Switzerland already has comprehensive animal rights laws, though many feel the vote was a cat-astrophe. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gadhafi’s Personal Holy War

Staff / Truthdig Feb 26, 2010 Moammar Gadhafi has had it up to here with Switzerland. First they arrest his son on charges of beating up two servants at a luxury hotel. Then they pass a pretty horrible law banning mosque's minarets. Now, Gadhafi has called for a holy war against the country, a move which has received almost universal denouncement. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Jewish Groups Object to Switzerland’s Minaret Ban

Staff / Truthdig Dec 4, 2009 Recognizing that this week's popular vote to forbid the building of minarets in Switzerland represented a blatant show of religious intolerance it couldn't ignore, an association of Jewish organizations is expressing its strong disagreement with the ban and calling on Swiss leaders to defend religious freedom. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Shame on the Swiss

Mr. Fish / Truthdig Nov 30, 2009 Dig deeper

Swiss Court Accepts Polanski’s $4.5M Bail Request

Staff / Truthdig Nov 26, 2009 Will Roman Polanski spend the holidays at his mountain chalet in Gstaad? That could well be the case after Polanski's latest bail offer, this time to the tune of $45 million, was accepted by a Swiss court Wednesday, although the 76-year-old director (continued). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Emma Thompson, Petition Tourist?

Staff / Truthdig Nov 11, 2009 British actor Emma Thompson has drawn the ire of Roman Polanski's supporters by removing her name from a pro-Polanski petition she'd signed following the Polish filmmaker's September arrest in Switzerland. On Tuesday writer-filmmaker Yann Moix archly accused Thompson of "petition tourism." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )