April 17 () –
This Wednesday, the Swiss Parliament banned the public display of extremist symbols, such as Nazi swastikas, in a vote that seeks to put an end to “incitement to violence and racism” and which resulted in 133 votes in favor and 38 against.
Extremist symbols were until now widely tolerated in public spaces in Switzerland, as long as their objective was not to commit a crime of hate speech but to show a personal opinion. However, this situation will change now that the Lower House of Parliament has given the green light to the ban, which had already passed in the Upper House.
“Racially discriminatory, violent, extremist and especially National Socialist symbols have no place in our society and should not be used in public,” said Justice Minister Beat Jans in a statement posted on Parliament's website. “Today, prevention alone is no longer enough. Measures are needed at the federal level,” he stressed.
After World War II, Switzerland came under pressure to align with other European countries in banning Nazi symbols, following the example of Germany, Poland and other Eastern European states.
The deputies have also endorsed that the new legislation be introduced in stages, an approach that the Swiss Government had been supporting. In effect, this will allow easily identifiable Nazi symbols to be banned quickly, while other racist and extremist symbols could be identified and banned later.
