Marco Camenisch (born 21 January 1952) is a Swissanarchist andenvironmentalactivist.[1]
Camenisch was born on January 21, 1952, inCampocologno, Switzerland and raised in a middle-class home incantonGraubünden.[2]
In the late 1970s, Camenisch was involved in local opposition to thenuclear power industry. In Switzerland, as in other countries, the movement against nuclear power plants utilized tactics ofdirect action: cutting down electricalpylons,sabotage against power stations, and actions against leaders of the nuclear industry.[3]
On Christmas eve of 1979, Camenisch with René Moser sabotaged a power station belonging to NOK (Nordostschweizer Kraftwerke) atBad Ragaz,St. Gallen with explosives, destroying twotransformers and apower pole. The pair were arrested for the sabotage in January 1980 and after spending a year free on bail, the court of Canton inChur andGraubünden sentenced Camenisch to 10 years in prison.[4][5]
In December 1981, he escaped fromRegensdorf prison[4] nearZürich, along with 5 other prisoners. During the melée a prison guard was shot and killed, and another was seriously injured. Camenisch claimed he hadn't been part of the group which committed the shootings. After the escape he spent 10 years in hiding.[3][6]
In 1989, Swiss federal police and media claimed he was responsible for the killing of Swiss border police officer Kurt Moser at Brusio.[4]
On November 5, 1991, Camenisch was stopped byCarabinieri on Cinquale di Montignoso road, along with fellow anarchist Giancarlo Sergianpietri. Camenisch produced a handgun and opened fire, wounding one of the soldiers. In the ensuing shootout, he was wounded in one leg and arrested. Two guns and sixrudimentary bombs were found at his place. He was taken toPisa hospital, where he remained for six months, and later at San Vittore prison infirmary inMilan. TheItalian Court ofMassa Carrara sentenced him to 12 years for assault and sabotage of electrical pylons. He served 9 of those years while insolitary confinement in a maximum-security prison.[4]
In April 2002, Camenisch was extradited to Switzerland and transferred to a prison inPfäffikon near Zürich.[3] In January 2003, after a hunger strike against the conditions of imprisonment he was suffering, he was transferred to a prison inChur with better conditions.[7] In 2002 the Swiss government transferred him back to Pfäffikon.[7] In July 2004 he was sentenced to seventeen years in prison for the murder of Kurt Moser.[4][5]
In November 2006 theFederal Supreme Court nullified this sentence on the basis that the sum of the two prison terms would exceed the maximum of twenty years set by Swiss law. On 13 March the sentence was therefore reduced to eight years.[8]
Camenisch has maintained his political beliefs during his time in prison, and he has remained a political activist.[8]
He was freed from prison on 10 March 2017, after 26 years.[9][10]
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