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Video: Swiss soldiers ordered to throw stones and nuts at colleague

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Video: Swiss soldiers ordered to throw stones and nuts at colleague
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A viral video of Swiss soldiers being ordered by a superior to throw 'stones' and 'nuts' at a soldier from Ticino is causing a stir.

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The video, first published by public broadcasting service RSI (Radiotelevisione Svizzera) on Tuesday 16 October, was filmed on September 14 in Emmen, canton Lucerne.

A male voice can be heard shouting "ready" then "fire", before a group of soldiers throw objects at a lone soldier with his back to them. The father of the man involved says they were throwing stones and nuts.

It is understood the soldiers are part of the ‘Der Lehrverband Fliegerabwehr 33’, abbreviated to LVb Flab 33, or the Anti-Aircraft Training Unit 33 in English.

At this stage, it is unclear why the soldiers were told to throw objects at the recruit. A spokesman for the military has said a preliminary investigation into the incident is underway.

A decision is expected to be taken in the next few weeks.

The army has also tweeted about the incident. Roughly translated, the tweet reads: “Mistreatment of Ticinese recruit in Emmen: the army does not accept corporal punishment. The head of the army is visiting the concerned recruit school. Military justice/judiciary is investigating the incident.”

 

 

RSI says that the victim had not reported the incident for fear of repercussion. Instead, it was his father who went public, saying that this was just one example of harassment suffered by his son and other recruits from Ticino at the hands of Swiss-German superiors and soldiers.

The soldier involved in the video was interviewed by the examining magistrate on Monday 15 October.

Some sources suggest that the video had already gone viral within the army. The military spokesman said the army had been aware of the video prior to its publication in the media.

  

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