- With the outbreak of the pandemic, the social climate in Switzerland heated up considerably.
- According to the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol), new measures against Covid-19 have caused the number of threats to skyrocket.
- According to the Fedpol report, members of parliament and people in the federal administration were increasingly threatened in 2021.
- Fedpol has also issued a total of 187 entry bans – 92 of them for terrorism.
The Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) speaks of “threats in an endless loop” in its 2021 annual report. Protected persons – such as federal councilors, federal judges or members of parliament – would report threats or “expressions of displeasure” to Fedpol.
In the two pandemic years 2020 and 2021 in particular, the number of reported and actual threats rose sharply: while there were 246 reports and 18 actual threats in 2019, by 2020 there were already 885 reports and 64 actual threats. In 2018, however, both numbers were slightly higher than in 2019.
“They hit the keys”
Fedpol links the increased threats to the protective measures with which the authorities wanted to reduce the number of infections, serious illnesses and deaths during the pandemic. Bloody photo montages or threats – once letters – are now expressed in emails, posts and comments in digital media.
Corona was like a dam bursting. Some cannot control their anger at the measures.
According to the Fedpol report, the language was vulgar and the tone threatening or even dangerously threatening. The senders have their sights set on politicians and ultimately on society and democracy. “Corona was like a dam bursting. Some cannot control their anger at the measures. They hit the keys.”
The Fedpol can react to particularly insulting or aggressive statements with a border drawing letter or a threatening speech. The two measures are intended to make it clear to the perpetrators of the threat that they are on the verge of criminal liability, as Fedpol writes.
Anyone who is threatened can also file a criminal complaint. In the case of official offenses such as coercion, incitement to hatred or incitement to violence, the Fedpol will investigate ex officio and file a complaint with the federal prosecutor’s office. Last year there were 120 cases of threats and criminal charges.
Task force in action
In order to search social media and websites for threats and calls for militant actions against magistrates, Fedpol set up the “Cymon” task force in 2021 – the acronym stands for Cyber Monitoring. From mid-September to the end of the year alone, the group processed up to 4,000 messages – every day.