Filipina facing jail in Switzerland

A Filipino woman in Switzerland is facing three years’ imprisonment after she posted on Facebook photos of herself in a nurse’s uniform sitting and laughing next to the corpse of an old woman.

Her action has been described by prosecutors in the eastern region of Saint Gallen as disturbing the peace of the dead, while the Swiss national nurses’ federation issued a statement saying the suspect should not be trusted to care for patients or the elderly.

“Whether this was a qualified nurse, a professional carer or a simple assistant, it is clear that people like this should not be in the health sector,” an AFP report quoted the statement as saying.

An AFP report also said that Blick quoted the woman on Friday as saying that she merely wanted to show a friend in back home in the Philippines the realities of life and death in Switzerland.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone or show a lack of respect,” she was reportedly quoted by the Swiss tabloid Blick as saying.

The newspaper also identified the woman as an immigrant from the Philippines and married to a Swiss man. It added that she was working as a cook and not as a nurse.

A reader reportedly spotted the photos posted on the FB account of the woman, whose name was withheld by the media, and brought this to the attention of some journalists.

Last Friday, the AFP report said the 20 Minuten newspaper carried the photos, but blanked out the faces of the care-home nurse and the dead woman as well as of those who did comment on the post. Some photos reportedly showed the woman in front of an ambulance and in sado-masochist poses.

The photos were allegedly taken in January 2012 at a care home in Mogelsberg, which is nestled in the foothills of the alps high above the Necker Valley. The care home was subsequently closed for other reasons.

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