Trade union investigates allegations of plagiarism against Schneider

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Henrique Schneider (45) will succeed Hans-Ulrich Bigler (64) as head of the Swiss Trade Association (SGV) on 1 July. He was elected to this position in February without a vote against.

But in recent days, Schneider has faced serious allegations of plagiarism. Is he still bearable after these accusations? The board of the SGV dealt with this question on Tuesday morning during an extraordinarily convened crisis meeting. The SGV now wants clarity in the matter and is announcing an investigation itself, the association said in a press release on Tuesday.

The investigation must be completed before Schneider takes office. “We want to have the matter investigated comprehensively and conclusively with an independent, external report,” said the National Council of the Center and President of the SGV, Fabio Regazzi, 60, in the statement. The union will not answer further questions until the new investigation is complete.

65 text plagiarism found

The Austrian plagiarism researcher Stefan Weber writes on his website that Schneider is suspected of systematically plagiarizing his scientific publications for at least ten years and forging two professorships. Contrary to what he said in 2011 and 2015, Schneider was never a professor at the University of Vienna and never a professor at the University of Graz.

The “NZZ am Sonntag” was the first to report misleading information in Schneider’s resume. The plagiarism researcher claims to have found a total of 65 plagiarized texts in ten scientific and journalistic publications by Schneider. He is said to have copied Wikipedia, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy or a graduation thesis submitted in Lucerne, among other things.

Schneider denied the allegations

Schneider dismissed all allegations over the weekend. He informed the “NZZ am Sonntag” that he wants to exclude the possibility of plagiarism in his publications. The texts have survived peer reviews and an editing process that checks the originality of the text.

Regarding the allegations of plagiarism, he said that he wrote his texts “with the best possible care and with information about the literature used and sources of citation”. He regards the allegations of the press as diffuse. In particular, no distinction is made between what he says about himself and what others say about him.

Expert at AfD

Schneider continues to emphasize that he has no academic titles and intervenes when he notices that such titles and job descriptions are associated with him.

But that last statement is disputed. For example, in 2021, Schneider appeared at an online-streamed AfD event in Berlin. He had prepared an expert opinion for the party – on a report from the German government that dealt with the democratic education of young people. As the video, which can still be viewed on YouTube, shows, Schneider was introduced there as “our guest of honor, Professor Schneider”. He then sat down in front of a nameplate that read “Prof. Dr. Snijder”. He also bears the same title in an article he wrote in the 2009 “Allgemeine Schweizerische Militaerzeitschrift”.

Networked with the FDP

Henrique Schneider also maintains good relations with the top leadership of the FDP. Thanks to party chairman Thierry Burkart (47) of the FDP, he has constant access to the Federal Palace. He gave him one of his two access badges. Each National Councilor and State Councilor must award two such insignia. This allows guests to move freely in the Federal Palace and also in the foyer.

Schneider did not want to make a statement to ‘Blick’ on Tuesday morning. (she)

Source:Blick