Hansueli Gürber

Hansueli Gürber (* 2. February 1951 in Zurich as Hans-Ulrich Gürber ) is a former youth advocate of the Swiss canton of Zurich .

Career

Gürber studied law at the University of Zurich and completed an internship in the Regensdorf prison in 1977 , most recently as a clerk in the disciplinary system. This was followed by further professional positions as an auditor and court secretary at the Zurich District Court and as a part-time legal advisor for inmates of the Regensdorf prison (1977–1979), as a district attorney at the Zurich District Attorney (1979–1983) and as a district judge at the Zurich District Court (1983–1985).

In 1985 he became senior youth lawyer for the Horgen district and a so-called "Gypsy" clerk for the canton of Zurich . From 1995 he was also the media spokesman for the entire canton. As such, he worked his way up to a well-known youth lawyer and brought Swiss youth criminal law closer to the public . He is known for standing up for his clients even though he had to compete against them ex officio. In interviews, he emphasized several times that, depending on the circumstances, without repression such as B. Detention does not work.

From 2007 to 2014 Gürber held a leading position in the youth advocacy office of the City of Zurich and then retired early. He lives in Adliswil , is married and the father of 5 adult children, 2 of whom come from an extramarital relationship. Because of his appearance - with glasses, long hair and previously with a full beard - he is said to be a hippie .

The "Carlos case"

→ Main article : Case «Carlos»

In August 2013 Swiss television broadcast the documentary Der Jugendanwalt , in which Hansueli Gürber was portrayed professionally and privately. He has since the "Carlos" is called and when was the story of a client's award, Shemsi Beqiri Thaibox took -classes, but currently for different offenses in the prison Pöschwies located. The then 17-year-old "Carlos" had had a difficult childhood and adolescence and was considered an extremely difficult young person, so that one did not want the criminal in any home; among other things he had stabbed a knife. As the responsible youth lawyer, Gürber was obliged to look for a viable solution for him. After lengthy negotiations with other competent authorities, it was concluded that only a special setting was possible.

This procedure triggered a great wave of outrage, not least because a special setting costs five-digit total tax money (~ CHF 24,000) per month. The daily Blick published the headline “Sozialwahn” on August 27, 2013, and Gürber was held responsible and scolded as a “cuddly lawyer”. As a result of the press campaign that had kicked off, the youth advocate got into great difficulties. Gürber had to hand the dossier over to another youth lawyer and received death threats. On instructions from his superiors, he was no longer allowed to speak in interviews on the "Carlos case". But he let the public know that you are being monitored 24 hours a day during a special setting and that this is not funny. He admitted the disclosure of the example of "Carlos" in a television program as a mistake.

The special setting was discontinued on December 13, 2013 and «Carlos» was transferred to the Uitikon Measures Center , ie to a prison. However, the Federal Supreme Court recognized that “Carlos” was no longer guilty of anything and that the detention was only carried out under pressure from the public and ordered the continuation of the special setting.

In addition to Gürber, his superior Marcel Riesen-Kupper and the responsible government councilor Martin Graf also came into the focus of the media. The latter made Gürber responsible for being voted out of the cantonal government in April 2015.

literature

• Ursula Eichenberger: The switchman. Youth attorney Gürber. Wörterseh Verlag, Gockhausen 2016.

Web links

• Andreas Maurer: Case "Carlos": Ex-youth lawyer Gürber tells what really happened back then. In: CH Media , November 23, 2019.