A criminal court in Switzerland can impose Strafen and Massnahmen. The former include the usual penalties under criminal law, i.e. custodial sentences, fines, etc, whilst the latter cover other measures which may be necessary in view of the fact that the offence has been committed, e.g. sectioning, anti-addiction treatment.

Massnahmen may obviously have a punitive effect for the offender. However, since they are not directly dependent on the offender's guilt or the seriousness of the offence, but rather the potential future consequences, in strict legal terms they are not furthering the goal of punishment.

In this cases expulsion is both a punishment (i.e. Strafe), as well as a means for furthering the goal of public safety (i.e. Massnahme), and all this sentence is saying is that the latter aspect is considered to be more important in case law.

see further: http://www.ejpd.admin.ch/content/dam/data/sicherheit/straf_u...