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Swiss mercenary admits to violating Geneva Conventions in Ukraine

According to previously unpublished interrogation records obtained by the media, the mercenary said that many legal provisions discussed in textbooks and classrooms "cannot be applied" to the conflict in Ukraine

GENEVA, December 4. /TASS/. A 38-year-old Swiss citizen, who participated in combat operations twice on the side of the Ukrainian army, admitted to violating the Geneva Conventions during his interrogation at the Confederation's military court in September, the Aargauer Zeitung newspaper reported.

According to previously unpublished interrogation records obtained by the newspaper, the mercenary said that many legal provisions discussed in textbooks and classrooms "cannot be applied" to the conflict in Ukraine. According to him, "it is difficult to comply with the Geneva Conventions," which are meant to protect the injured, as well as prisoners of war, civilians, and doctors. In particular, he recounted a case when he and other mercenaries were supposed to carry an injured prisoner of war, but instead they forced other prisoners to do it.

According to the newspaper, the Attorney General’s Office must now decide whether to bring charges against the man for violating international military law. If not, the investigation will continue with representatives from the country's military justice system, the article noted.

Current Swiss legislation prohibits Swiss citizens from becoming mercenaries in the armies of other states. In their homeland, they face prosecution and punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to three years. In February 2025, the Swiss National Council Legal Affairs Committee rejected an initiative by Social Democratic Party lawmaker Jon Pult to exempt Swiss mercenaries in Ukraine from this ban. Earlier, the Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed for the first time the death of a Swiss citizen among mercenaries fighting on the side of the Ukrainian armed forces.

On August 12, 1949, four documents establishing humanitarian rules of warfare were adopted. They are known as the 1949 Geneva Conventions, or the Fourth Geneva Convention. These documents replaced the 1864, 1906, and 1929 treaties. Switzerland was the first country to ratify the 1949 Geneva Conventions on March 31, 1950; the USSR followed on April 17, 1951.

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