Swiss MP Michaël Buffat to stand trial over alleged domestic abuse

Swiss People’s Party (SVP) National Council member Michaël Buffat will stand trial over alleged domestic violence against his wife, SRF reports. The trial is due to begin on November 23 at the District Court of Broye and Nord vaudois in Yverdon-les-Bains. Both spouses are presumed innocent.

Vaud prosecutors accuse Buffat of repeatedly controlling and pressuring his wife over several years, as well as insulting, humiliating, threatening, intimidating and harassing her. The indictment also accuses him of physical and psychological abuse. He faces charges including bodily injury, coercion, threats and deprivation of liberty.

According to the indictment, his wife sought help regularly from the Malley-Prairie women’s shelter and later received psychiatric treatment for complex post-traumatic stress disorder. She filed a criminal complaint in August 2024.

Prosecutors have also charged Buffat’s wife, including with bodily injury, alleging that she acted violently during disputes. They say she forced him in October 2023 to sign a divorce agreement under time pressure and pay her 100,000 francs, threatening otherwise to tell the media about the alleged abuse.

The couple married in October 2015 and separated permanently in early 2024. Their divorce proceedings are ongoing. The allegations had previously been reported by news outlet Heidi.news. Buffat and his lawyer had not commented by midday Wednesday, according to Keystone-SDA. The trial is expected to last a day and a half.