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‘I never defend an act, just the person behind it’

Lawyers are seen by some for being unscrupulous money-grabbers who would step over corpses to win their cases. Valentin Landmann says he is no such creature. He defends fringe groups, such as the Hells Angels and people working in the red light district. 

Landmann is a bit of a maverick and doesn’t own a suit. In court he wears a blazer and a tie with jeans. Most of the time, he leaves his briefcase at home because “there is no time during the trial to pass around documents”.

He admits that he is sometimes confronted with the dark side of the human psyche. But he says he has been able to maintain a positive attitude towards life and has kept his faith in human nature.

(SRF/swissinfo.ch)

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR