# 2010 in Switzerland

Events in the year 2010 in Switzerland.

## Incumbents

* President of the Swiss Confederation: Doris Leuthard
* President of the National Council: Jean-René Germanier
* President of the Swiss Council of States: Hansheiri Inderkum

## Events

* 6 January: Extreme weather across Europe leads to dozens of deaths, including at least 7 as a result of an avalanche in Switzerland.
* 4 February: Switzerland agrees to accept two Chinese Muslim Uyghurs from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
* 25 February: Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi calls for jihad against Switzerland after a referendum last year supported a ban on minarets and other rows between the two nations.
* 7 February: Voters in Switzerland take part in a referendum on whether to provide lawyers for non-human animals and other issues.
* 19 March: Switzerland ceases to deport asylum seekers in response to the death of a Nigerian man at Zürich Airport as he was being forcefully deported. Nigeria condemns the occurrence.
* 10 June: Max Goeldi, the Swiss businessman at the centre of a long-running diplomatic row between Libya and Switzerland, is released from prison in Tripoli.
* 14 June: The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland rules that Romanian footballer Adrian Mutu has lost his final appeal in a five-year legal battle meaning he has to pay a record €17 million in damages for breaching his contract.
* 12 July: Switzerland rejects a request from the United States to extradite Franco–Polish film director Roman Polanski to face sentencing on charges of unlawful sex with a minor in 1977.
* 3–11 December – The 2010 European Curling Championships take place in Champéry.
* 5 December: Bank officials attempt to shut down an account opened by Julian Assange in Switzerland.

## Arts and entertainment

* 63rd Locarno Film Festival

## Sports

* 15 February: 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver: Dario Cologna secures Switzerland's first ever Olympic cross-country gold medal and Norway delivers its poorest ever cross-country Olympic performance in the men's 15km freestyle cross-country competition

## Deaths

* 8 January – Raymond Kamber, 79, Olympic sprint canoer.
* 17 February – Roger-Émile Aubry, 86, Swiss-born Bolivian Roman Catholic prelate, Vicar Apostolic of Reyes (1973–1999).
* 25 February – Ernst Beyeler, 88, art collector.
* 26 February – Charles le Gai Eaton, 89, Swiss-born British diplomat and author.
* 27 February – Roger Veeser, 90, Olympic athlete.
* 2 April – Roman Bannwart, 90, theologian and musician.
* 14 April:
** Erika Burkart, 88, author.
** Alice Miller, 87, Polish-born Swiss author and psychologist.
* 15 April – Peter-Josef Schallberger, 78, farmer and politician.
* 16 April – Balthasar Burkhard, 65, photographer.
* 15 May – Loris Kessel, 60, racing driver.
* 18 May:
** Iskender Alptekin, 48, politician
** Karin Iten, 53, figure skater.
* 2 June – Marguerite Narbel, 92, biologist and politician, member of the Grand Council of Vaud.
* 28 June – Nicolas Hayek, 82, entrepreneur, founder and chairman of The Swatch Group.
* 8 July – Robert Freitag, 94, Austrian-born Swiss actor.
* 19 July – Antoinette Meyer, 90, Olympic silver medal-winning (1948) alpine skier.
* 11 August – Markus Liebherr, 62, businessman, owner of Southampton F.C.
* 15 September – Peter Stebler, 83, Olympic silver medal-winning (1948) rower.
* 21 September – Bernard Genoud, 68, Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Lausanne, Genève et Fribourg (1999–2010).
* 5 October – Steve Lee, 47, musician (Gotthard).
* 22 October – René Villiger, 79, painter.
* 25 October – Hans Arnold, 85, Swiss-born Swedish artist.
* 31 October – Max Barandun, 68, Olympic sprinter.
* 10 November – Georges Aeschlimann, 90, cyclist.
* 3 December – Hugues Cuénod, 108, tenor.
* 11 December:
** Roger Nicole, 95, Swiss-born American Evangelical Christian theologian.
** Peter Risi, 60, footballer.
* 27 December – Walter Balmer, 62, footballer.