Absolutely three months – that is the sentence imposed by the Vaud public prosecutor in a blatant case of homophobic aggression. It is the first verdict after the extension of the anti-racism penal norm. Further tightening is now required.
The penal provision against discrimination against gays and lesbians was approved by the people in February 2020. LGBTQ activists at a demonstration on September 4, 2021 in Zurich.
The Franco-Swiss author Alain Soral is a notorious anti-Semite and hateful polemicist. In France he has already been sentenced 22 times for anti-Semitic statements, Holocaust denial and similar offences. Now Soral is also gaining notoriety in Switzerland. The public prosecutor’s office in Vaud sentenced him to an unconditional three months’ imprisonment and a fine of CHF 1,550 for homophobic statements, among other things – the first case since the anti-racism penal norm was expanded to include the additional criterion.
The criminal provision against discrimination against gays and lesbians was approved by the people in February 2020 with a clear majority and came into force six months later. Other verdicts have not yet become known. But the most recent case is particularly blatant. In a video that circulated on the Internet, the man spoke at length and in a very condescending manner about a journalist who had previously written an article about him. He describes the woman as a “fat lesbian” and expresses that queer people are in fact “disoriented”. Other statements are also defamatory.
Hateful comments online
Soral doesn’t even try to explore boundaries, but attacks the woman in a way that leaves no doubt about his hateful views of gays and lesbians. The public prosecutor considers such statements to be deeply homophobic. This encourages discrimination based on sexual orientation. Soral’s aim was to instill in his followers a feeling of antipathy, contempt, even dislike or hatred of the plaintiff and of homosexual people in general.
He had put homophobic statements in the foreground and in this way spread a despicable ideology. The hateful comments below the video showed that Soral had achieved its goal. After all, Soral has shown its homophobic attitude in the past. In 2016 and 2018, according to the penal order in France, he was sentenced twice for similar statements. Soral was also convicted by the Vaud public prosecutor’s office for defamation. The verdict is not yet final because Soral can appeal. In this case, a court would have to decide.
Inciting hatred based on gender should be punished
Pink Cross and LOS, the umbrella organizations for homosexual and bisexual people, write in a statement that with their decision the public prosecutor’s office is making it clear that hatred of queer people has no place. The first conviction for incitement to hatred against homosexuals is notable because the prosecutor’s office issued an unconditional prison sentence. According to Roman Heggli, managing director of Pink Cross, another test case against another suspect is pending in Ticino. It is about an article in a conservative theological publication entitled “On the need to limit homosexual cliques in the church”.
The penal norm against discrimination and incitement to hatred is one of the most discussed penal provisions in Switzerland. It was introduced in 1995 after a referendum to allow Switzerland to join the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Since then, there have been hundreds of convictions. The penal norm is also a long-running issue in the parliamentary debate. After the 2020 voters accepted the extension of the penal norm to include the criterion of sexual orientation, the next innovations are already in the pipeline.
Parliamentarians from all parties except the SVP also want to criminalize incitement to hatred and violence based on gender. Today, in addition to sexual orientation, only the categories of race, ethnicity and religion are listed in the penal code. Zurich criminal law professor Marc Thommen recently told the NZZ that it was not clear why discrimination based on religion or sexual orientation should be punishable, but not on the basis of gender: “The legislature is free to set further accents here,” said thomas
Ban swastika and Hitler salute
The Aargau Central National Councilor Marianne Binder wants to develop the penal code in a different direction. In a motion, she proposes to ban symbols of National Socialism in public spaces in the future. Binder is not only concerned with the swastika, but also with gestures, slogans, forms of greeting or flags.
The Federal Council initially rejected Binder’s proposal because it was hardly possible to distinguish between punishable and non-punishable behavior. He referred to previous parliamentary decisions not to criminalize the Hitler salute. In the meantime, the Department of Justice seems to have adjusted its position. According to a report in the Tamedia newspapers, Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter has commissioned the Federal Office of Justice to examine the need for action and the legal options for action, also with a view to the legal situation in neighboring countries.