Due to the conflict in the Middle East: Constitutional lawyers criticize the ban on demonstrations in Swiss cities

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The escalation of violence in the Middle East, violent demonstrations in several European cities, bomb threats in France or a terrorist-motivated attack in Brussels: the security situation continues to deteriorate. The cities of Zurich, Bern and Basel have responded and issued bans on demonstrations, at least for next weekend.

The measure is criticized by constitutional lawyers: “The European Court of Human Rights says very clearly that a general ban on meetings should only be approved in exceptional cases,” emphasizes Helen Keller (59), professor at the Institute for International Law and Foreign Constitutional Rights at the University of Zurich, compared to “20 minutes”. “The authorities are also obliged to provide a clear justification as to why a far-reaching ban is being imposed.”

“Freedom of assembly is a valuable legal right”

For the constitutional lawyer, the fact that a counter-demonstration was announced in Basel to arouse critics of the measures is not sufficient reason for such a far-reaching ban: “Freedom of assembly is a high legal right. The authorities and the community must ensure that people can express their views in public.”

As Keller explains, a demo ban would only be permissible if the authorities could demonstrate that the risk of violence is so great that it would no longer be possible to adequately protect participants and third parties. Authorities should consider less drastic measures in advance, such as limiting the number of people or restricting them to certain places.

Keller’s colleague Andreas Glaser also believes that a blanket ban on gatherings such as in Basel is disproportionate because it is “imposed across the board without reference to specific threat situations.” But you cannot separate it from the experiences of the pandemic: “The generalization was applied there, all gatherings above a certain number were banned,” Glaser told “20 Minutes.”

“In a democracy it should be exactly the opposite”

In Basel, all demonstrations are banned from Friday evening to Sunday, even if they have nothing to do with the Middle East. Zurich bans “meetings related to the conflict in the Middle East” until Sunday evening. Bern’s security director Reto Nause (52) has even banned meetings related to the conflict in the Middle East until further notice. An end date for this measure has not yet been determined.

According to constitutional lawyer Glaser, this is a wrong assessment by the authorities: “They want to let YB and SCB play, but ban political demonstrations. In a democracy it should be the exact opposite,” he says. “Fun events should be canceled in favor of political rallies. But this is not desirable.” (dba)

Source:Blick