National Council wants to ban Nazi symbols

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Anyone who uses or distributes Nazi symbols should be able to be punished for it in the future. The National Council has spoken out in favor of a complete ban on Nazi symbolism in public spaces.

The proposal by Marianne Binder-Keller (Mitte/AG) was adopted on Thursday with 141 votes in favour, 42 against and 4 abstentions. If the States Council also agrees, the Bundesrat must prohibit and criminalize the use of National Socialist gestures, slogans, forms of greeting, signs and flags, as well as writings, audio or video recordings or illustrations that depict or contain such symbols.

Fines for violations

At the beginning of this year, the legal committee of the National Council proposed a special law, on the basis of which violations of this prohibition can be punished. Fines should therefore be imposed in case of violation of the prohibition.

In principle, a possible ban on right-wing extremist symbolism in Switzerland is a good sign, said extremism expert Samuel Althof in a recently published interview with the Tamedia newspapers. However, the direct effect is limited. “One should not entertain the illusion that such a ban could curb right-wing extremism.”

However, it is important to take seriously the legitimate fears of Jewish society. “A ban makes the most sense if we formulate it narrowly and limit it to National Socialist symbols, combined with clearly and strictly defined punishments,” Althof said.

Federal government sees implementation as “challenge”

Implementing a blanket ban on National Socialist and racist symbols in Switzerland would be “a major challenge,” as the Federal Office of Justice recently wrote in a report. In particular, the question is whether the necessary specificity of the standard can be found. The existing legal situation at federal and cantonal level is already sufficient for most situations. The Bundesrat shares this view.

Parliament has so far refrained from a total ban on racist symbols, in particular because of the difficulty of defining the symbols to be banned. Symbols are currently only punishable if used to promote a racist ideology. (SDA)

Source:Blick