CDU MP Marco Wanderwitz says the AfD, the second most popular party in the country, must be banned to save democracy. (Source: Wanderwitz.de)
With the German government collapsing, one of the main proponents of an Alternative for Germany (AfD) ban, CDU politician Marco Wanderwitz, is pushing for a speedy procedure right before new elections.
“Our aim is still to submit the motion and vote on it in this legislative period and thus get the proceedings at the Federal Constitutional Court underway,” he told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. He said that things now have to “move quickly.”
As Remix News has long reported, MP Wanderwitz, who was defeated by an AfD politician in local elections but gained re-entry into the Bundestag due to being on the CDU party list, has been pushing for a ban for a year. In order to submit a motion to ban the AfD, he needs 37 fellow MPs, or 5 percent of the Bundestag MPs, to vote with him.
Germany 🇩🇪 may BAN the AfD party, the second-largest party in the country.
Activists want a ban "now," not later. They argue that the only way to protect democracy is to ban the party from participating in democracy. pic.twitter.com/GSN3ZgfK0F
Wanderwitz is attempting to capitalize on the arrest of three individuals from the Saxon Separatists group who had links to the AfD, with Wanderwitz claiming that the group has connections to right-wing terrorism. The AfD has indicated that it has no ties to the Saxon Separatists and disavows the group.
Notably, many on the left have open connections to left-wing extremist groups, and even the country’s current interior minister, Nancy Faeser, wrote for Antifa Magazine shortly before she won her position, a group known to be funded by a government-designated left-wing extremist group.
Die AfD ist eine rechtsextreme Partei, eine große Gefahr für unser Land, unsere freiheitliche demokratische Grundordnung. Wir wollen, dass das Bundesverfassungsgericht ihre Verfassungstreue prüfen kann. Dafür arbeiten wir im Bundestag. Hier unser Antrag: https://t.co/9qPK5QJfw5
Politicians in Germany have been split on the issue. CDU leader Friedrich Merz is allegedly no longer fundamentally opposed to a ban, but claims he wants to observe new developments. The FDP, which was once against the move, is now moving closer to a ban. Notably, both parties stand to gain voters from the rival AfD should a ban move forward.
🇩🇪❌ Will X be banned in Germany?
"With his call to ban X, Mr. Hofreiter of the Greens has shown the ugly face of the totalitarian spirit that dominates you."
The Greens, meanwhile, want a gradual process towards a ban, including consulting with legal experts.
Wanderwitz himself sees a short window for a ban to come about, at least while he is leading the charge. He is set to retire from politics, which means by the time the next government is voted in, he will no longer be a part of it.
🇩🇪‼️German lawmakers file a motion to BAN the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in order "save democracy."
🔺The AfD is the second most popular party in the country and has surged in the polls over its stance against mass immigration.
No matter what happens, a ban on the AfD could take years. Any final ban would have to be approved by the Federal Constitutional Court, and the burden for such a ban is supposed to be very high. Notably, the AfD party routinely polls between 16 and 20 percent of the national vote, and is the second most popular party in the nation. The courts have never banned such a popular party, setting the stage for a potential national crisis should the motion go through.
Just last week, Musk called Chancellor Olaf Scholz a “fool,” in the latest sign that tensions are heating up between the new American power bloc and the left-liberal EU elite.
Investigators from the State Office of Criminal Investigation may have prevented a catastrophe in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein!
On Wednesday evening ( November 6), state security investigators in Elmshorn (Schleswig-Holstein) arrested a 17-year-old who was allegedly planning a terrorist attack.
According to the BILD newspaper, the German-Turkish man was planning to kill people with a lorry at a Christmas market, as revealed by wiretapped conversations and intercepted communications. According to BILD, the investigators assume an Islamist background. The tip about the planner of the attack, which came from an American intelligence agency, first reported to the Federal Criminal Police Office in spring 2024 and was then followed up by investigators in Schleswig-Holstein. In March, the Flensburg public prosecutor’s office took over the case. Now the arrest.
Senior public prosecutor Bernd Winterfeldt told BILD: ‘I can confirm that we are investigating on suspicion of preparing a serious terrorist offence and conspiracy to commit a crime, namely murder. An arrest warrant has been issued for a 17-year-old suspect.’
He is now detained in the Schleswig prison.
‘The security authorities have done a good job and apparently prevented a possible attack,’ said Schleswig-Holstein’s Interior Minister Sabine Sütterlin-Waack (CDU) with relief. ‘I would like to thank all colleagues involved. We must always be vigilant.’
Trans activists in British Columbia, Canada, are demanding that a law which prevents dangerous convicted criminals from changing their legal names be repealed immediately.
Social justice legal group West Coast LEAF issued a press release, signed by numerous trans activist groups and organizations, demanding the change on November 7. In their letter, the groups claim that the province’s legislation “harms those most in need of legal name changes, including transgender people, Indigenous people, and survivors of gender-based violence.”
They also state that the “name change ban interferes with the human rights of transgender people to use their chosen names.” In addition to repealing the name-change ban, the groups are also demanding greater access to name change services, and “dignity” for the transgender community.
The legislation at issue is the province’s Name Act, which was amended earlier this year in response to public outcry over child-killer Allan Schoenborn being permitted to change his legal name, followed by a failed campaign to keep his new name hidden from the public.
Schoenborn murdered his three children, aged five, eight, and 10, in 2008. While he was found guilty of first-degree, pre-meditated murder, a judge ruled he was not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Schoenborn is currently eligible for 28-day leaves from the forensics hospital where he is serving his sentence, and may eventually be released into transitional housing in the community. Schoenborn does not identify as transgender.
The 2024 amendment to the BC Name Act ensures that all persons convicted of serious violent offences, or offences against children—even if they are found not criminally responsible—cannot obtain legal name changes. The legislation was proposed by the now-defunct BC United Party, which was the official opposition to the ruling New Democratic Party, under premier David Eby.
Eby held a sizable majority government at the time, but now holds the slimmest possible majority with a strong Conservative Party opposition.
Despite the obvious safety risk posed to the public by enabling men like Schoenborn to hide behind new aliases, BC’s trans activists believe that it is more important for transgender persons with violent criminal histories to have their gender identities affirmed.
If these activists have their way, criminals like Adam Laboucan, also known as Tara Desousa, would be able to hide their past by making quick and easy legal name changes. Laboucan, a trans-identified male and baby rapist, was the youngest criminal in Canadian history to be designated a “dangerous offender.” His crimes, which also include murdering a toddler, have been documented extensivelyby Reduxx. Laboucan currently resides in a female prison, with a mother-baby program, in British Columbia. Had his transfer to female prison gone unreported, it is plausible that Laboucan—if ever released from prison—would be able to enjoy anonymity and hide his violent, depraved criminal past from unsuspecting future victims.
Adrienne Smith, a female lawyer who uses they/them pronouns, also signed on to West Coast LEAF’s demands to reverse changes to the Name Act. In a statement included in their press release, Smith wrote that, for trans-identified persons, “[o]ur chosen names are human rights… This change [to the Name Act] hurts people standing farthest from justice, because it essentially sentences trans people to permanent deadnaming. That is unlawful, and it is wrong. Everyone should be entitled to the basic dignity of a name.”
Smith is the litigation director at CWHWC Trans Legal Clinic, a business that provides pro-bono legal services to “Two-Spirit, transgender and gender non-conforming people.” In addition to helping trans-identified persons obtain legal name changes, they also offer free hormone and surgery readiness assessments.
Another signatory, Didi Dufresne, a female who uses he/they/she pronouns, is the director of legal services for the non-profit QMUNITY. Dufresne asserted that the amendments to the Name Act are a throwback to laws that once criminalized homosexuality. “The criminal offenses listed include charges historically used to criminalize queer sex (like gross indecent, incident acts, exposure); charges related to sex work which are constitutionally suspect, and a number of non-violent offenses like breaking and entering or trespassing at night,” Dufresne wrote.
Other signatories include the Canadian Bar Association (BC Branch), PACE Society (which receives federal and provincial government funding), the Society for Advocacy for Gender-Affirming Healthcare, and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs.
In 2019, West Coast LEAF member Devyn Cousineau presided over the BC Human Rights Tribunal Jessica Yaniv hearings, in which trans-identified Yaniv sued female estheticians for refusing to wax his testicles. Cousineau referred to the waxing of trans-identified male testicles as “critical gender affirming care.”
Premier David Eby has not issued a public response to the demand letter.
The Republic of Iraq is gearing up to push minor girls into marriages. Furthermore, the girls will be deprived of any financial assistance or alimony and even any right to their kids in case of a divorce. The motive behind the move, as per the administration, which is aligned with the Sharia Law, is to discourage girls from having any romantic relationships as they are deemed inappropriate.
Iraq is on the verge of lowering the legal ‘consent’ age from 18 to 9, which would allow men to marry young children. An amendment that would repeal the nation’s “personal status law” is about to be approved by the Iraqi parliament, which is controlled by a coalition of conservative Shia Muslim parties. When it was first presented in 1959, the law, also known as Law 188, was hailed as one of the most innovative in the Middle East. It established a comprehensive set of regulations that control the affairs of Iraqi families, irrespective of their religious affiliation.
The second amendment to the law was passed on 16th September. The amendment will eliminate women’s rights to inheritance, divorce, and child custody in addition to lowering the legal marriage age. Additionally, the law would give residents the option of deciding family matters through the civil judiciary or religious authority. The proposed amendment is intended to shield girls from “immoral relationships,” according to the government.
Women’s rights in Iraq have been under attack for over ten years by the Shia religious organisations that control the political system. Shia parties in Iraq had previously attempted to reform the personal status law, but their efforts were unsuccessful in 2014 and 2017, primarily because of opposition from Iraqi women. However, according to Dr Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, the coalition currently holds a sizable parliamentary majority and is poised to pass the legislation.
He stated, “It’s the closest it’s ever been. It has more momentum than it’s ever had, primarily because of the Shia parties. It’s not all Shia parties, it’s just the specific ones that are empowered and are really pushing it.” Dr Mansour added that Shia Islamist outfits were using the proposed amendment as part of a larger political strategy to “consolidate their power” and reclaim legitimacy. “It is not yet clear exactly when the amendment will go before parliament for a vote, but it could come at any moment,” he further conveyed.
Iraq does not have a male guardianship system like neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which requires women to get consent from a husband, father, or male guardian before making important life decisions like getting married. All that is about to change, though, and the nation might soon resemble Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The Coordination Framework, a political alliance of groups with ties to Iran, has controlled the Iraqi political system since 2021. They have enacted many laws that are based on the Sharia Law including criminalising homosexuals and transgenders and adopting religious holidays.
According to the coalition administration, the proposed amendment seeks to “protect” young girls and is consistent with the interpretation of the Sharia Law. The administration is anticipated to pass the legislation in spite of the objections from Iraqi women’s organizations because it has a legislative majority.
The fresh amendment: Disaster for women and children
The proposed modification to the Personal Status Law (PSL), the civil code that determines the legal foundation for social and family life in Iraq, gave Iraqi individuals two choices when they were married, they may choose between rules based on sectarian preferences or the modern, primarily secular law. However, the men alone will have the last say in this matter. This idea has sparked significant worries about the future of women’s and children’s rights in addition to deepening the religious divide.
The PSL, which was adopted in 1959, brought every element of society together under a single code while taking into account the human rights of women and children as well as Islamic precepts that apply to all faiths. Articles covering child custody, inheritance and alimony centred on the welfare of children and women and the marriage age was placed at eighteen. Moreover, to maintain uniformity in the jurisdiction over family matters, all marriages had to be contracted in front of a judge in the state court system otherwise the union was considered illegal.
The recently proposed modification undermines the strong checks and balances and centralized accountability that were made feasible earlier. This law would make family law arbitrary and dismiss human rights as well as social consequences by giving clerics most, if not all, of the decision-making authority over family problems.
The legalization of child marriage is the most significant outcome of the proposed amendment. The current PSL specifies that 18 is the legal marriage age. Girls as young as nine might be able to legally marry if this amendment is approved. In Iraq, child marriage is already a significant social problem. 28% of girls are married before they reach the current legal age, based on the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). This is due to a loophole in the personal status law that permits religious leaders, rather than the courts, to perform thousands of marriages annually, even ones involving girls as young as 15 who have their father’s consent.
These unregistered weddings are common in Iraq’s ultra-conservative Shia populations that are also economically disadvantaged. However, the girls and any children they might bear are denied numerous privileges because the marriage is not recognized by the law. For instance, if a woman does not have a marriage certificate, hospitals could refuse to accept her for childbirth. According to Human Rights Watch, the amendment would legalize these religious weddings, increasing the risk of sexual and physical abuse for underage girls and preventing them from accessing jobs and education.
The implications for young Iraqi girls, who already face difficulties, might be devastating if the proposed change is approved. A maelstrom of early pregnancies and associated health hazards, along with even fewer opportunities for education and financial security, would follow. According to data, 46.2% of Iraqi women who marry before turning 18 have only completed pre-primary education or have no formal education. Likewise, early marriages have negatively impacted children due to unwanted sexual interactions, domestic rape and domestic violence coupled with pregnancy and delivery hazards, according to a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report on child marriages in the Kurdistan area of Iraq.
The problem of child marriage, along with other clauses that limit mandatory child custody with the mother from ten years to as little as two years, impart preference to men in inheritance and child custody disputes, and waive child support obligations. It also institutionalizes gender discrimination and increases the vulnerability of women and young girls to exploitation.
Opposition and concerns regarding the law
A number of Iraqi lawyers, social activists and Sunni religious figures are opposing the proposed modifications. Women’s rights groups have taken to social media to express their outrage over the action, accusing the government of trying to “legalise child rape.” The 188 Alliance, a group that opposes gender discrimination and the oppression of Iraqi women and seeks to stop Iraq from becoming increasingly gender-segregated like Afghanistan, is among the primary opposition voices and organised agitations across the country in August. According to activists and experts, the amendment would essentially nullify the nation’s most significant women’s rights.
Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch expressed, “The amendment would not just undermine these rights. It would erase them. It’s explicitly written in the draft that when there’s a dispute between the couple, the sect of the husband takes priority. This is going to remove a lot of protections for women. It will undermine the principle of equality before the law.” She was also worried that the amendment would grant Iraqi women from specific sects more economic autonomy and privileges while keeping others in violent marriages or impoverished. “(These women) will have to stay in harmful situations because they fear losing custody of their children,” she voiced.
“This is a catastrophe for women. My husband and my family oppose child marriage. But imagine if my daughter gets married and my daughter’s husband wants to marry off my granddaughter as a child. The new law would allow him to do so. I would not be allowed to object. This law legalises child rape,” said Raya Faiq. She serves as the coordinator for a coalition of organizations opposed to the proposed legislation. There are a few Iraqi MPs in the group as well.
Supporters of the new law confronted opponents during coalition-organized protests in Baghdad, the country’s capital, and many other cities, accusing them of “moral decadence” and “following Western agendas.” Nadia Mahmood, co-founder of the Iraq-based Aman Women’s Alliance mentioned, “Following the mass youth protests which took place in Iraq in 2019, these political players saw that the role of women had begun to strengthen in society. They felt that feminist, gender and women’s organisations, plus civil society and activist movements, posed a threat to their power and status (and) began to restrict and suppress them.”
Despite facing fierce resistance, a group of 25 female members of parliament have been working to prevent the proposed law from going to a second vote. The latest modifications will be formally discussed and then put to a vote by the Iraqi parliament. Alia Nassif, an Iraqi MP disclosed, “Unfortunately, male MPs who support this law speak in a masculine way, asking what’s wrong with marrying a minor? Their thinking is narrow-minded. They don’t take into consideration that they are the legislators who determine people’s fate but rather follow their masculine thinking to authorise all this.”
Protesters expressed their concern that if the legal amendments were implemented, their children would have to deal with a future that is much more cruel than their own. “I have one daughter and I don’t want her to be forced like me to marry as a child,” stated Azhar Jassim. She had to drop out of school to get married at the age of sixteen. The director of Model Iraqi Woman and international human rights legal counsel Athraa Al-Hassan expressed her “apprehension” that the Guardianship of the Jurist, a Shia system that prioritizes religious authority over the state, could replace Iraq’s current political structure. A similar arrangement is used by the governments of Iran and Afghanistan, where a Guardian Jurist is the nation’s top authority.
After failing to impose the death penalty, the ruling coalition made same-sex partnerships punishable by up to 15 years in prison in April. Additionally, it decided last year that media outlets should use “sexual deviance” instead of “homosexuality” across all platforms and even the word “gender” was prohibited. “What they aspire to in parliament is not in the interest of society, but their personal interest,” declared Al-Hassan. She is one of the most prominent figures in the nation’s feminist movement.
“We are defending the rights of women and girls (and) protecting Iraqi society from disintegration and the establishment of sectarianism among the social fabric,” she added. Al-Hassan called the amendment “extremely dangerous” and warned it was a “violation of the constitution” to meddle in the business of the Iraqi judiciary. “Iraq is a civilised civil state that cannot be otherwise. The first female minister in the Arab countries was Iraqi and the first female judge was Iraqi. We aspire to progress, not regress,” she asserted.
Iraq has long been plagued by sectarian strife. According to Dr Mansour, changing Law 188 would exacerbate already existing differences. “It would bring everything back to the sect. But many Iraqis don’t want to be defined politically by their sect. They want to be defined by their government and their state.”
The new amendment attempts to further regress the conservative Iraqi society and deepen the cracks of sectarianism and discrimination. It has caused shockwaves, particularly with reference to the status of women and children after the passage of the law.
In yet another disturbing incident of antisemitic attacks during a youth football match in Berlin, players from TuS Makkabi were reportedly assaulted and chased following a game against DJK Schwarz-Weiß Neukölln on Thursday evening. Alon Meyer, President of Makkabi Deutschland, confirmed the events during a video conference with the Berlin club, stating, “We are currently discussing our next steps.”
According to a report by the “Tagesspiegel”, Makkabi players were pursued by opponents and spectators wielding sticks and knives after the match. A representative from Schwarz-Weiß Neukölln indicated that the assaults mainly originated from the crowd.
The father of one of the Makkabi youths told the “Tagesspiegel” that the children faced repeated insults and spitting without intervention from the referee. Players from the B-Jugend team allegedly shouted “Free Palestine” multiple times. Although he was not present at the game, he relayed his son’s account of the ordeal.
Jüdische Spieler beleidigt, bespuckt und mit Messern und Stöcken verfolgt: Antisemitische Angriffe auf Jugendmannschaft von Makkabi Berlin https://t.co/SX91CydUR6
The newspaper quoted a spokesperson from Schwarz-Weiß Neukölln, who said, “If it is confirmed that one of the players participated in antisemitic remarks, then it’s clear that he will no longer be part of the club this evening.” The club has a clear constitution that excludes antisemitism, and the incidents are to be investigated, he added. The German Press Agency was initially unable to reach the club for a statement.
A police spokesperson stated that they had not been alerted to the situation and therefore could not comment on the incident.
In a related incident in the Netherlands on Thursday night, Israeli fans were reportedly targeted by pro-Palestinian youths on motorbikes following an Europa League match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Between 20 to 30 individuals were injured, most of them lightly.
During the Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid, a large banner reading “Free Palestine” was unfurled, featuring a map that omitted the State of Israel.
Anyone who appreciates real Swiss fondue in Vienna will know his name: ‘ Chef Hans S. from Chamäleon’ was popular with his guests and personally took care of their perfect cheese delight despite his advanced age. Now he is dead. Presumably murdered in cold blood by a young Afghan whom he was trying to help integrate. On Thursday afternoon, the body of a 70-year-old man was reportedly discovered in Vienna in his flat on Rabensteig, at the entrance to Vienna’s ‘Bermuda Triangle’ nightlife district. According to media reports, the victim is Hans Sch., a well-known restaurateur in Vienna who until recently ran a fondue restaurant in Blutgasse near St Stephen’s Cathedral. The restaurant, an insider tip for cheese fondue fanciers, is a popular meeting place and the chef himself was often there to reveal the secrets of the perfect fondue to his guests. It was only in autumn that the Swiss-born chef sold the restaurant to retire. He fancied a return to his beloved Swiss homeland.
Following a post-mortem examination, the authorities have now confirmed that the 70-year-old died from multiple stab wounds which, according to investigations, were inflicted by his 26-year-old ex-roommate with a sharp object. The suspect, a stateless man of Afghan origin, was caught in the Simmering district with several knives, which are now being forensically examined. Suspicion fell on the 26-year-old after friends of the victim alerted the police because they had not heard from him for days.
The suspect moved in with the pensioner in 2018, who wanted to teach him German and help him find a job. Until the beginning of September, the man, who had a residence permit and was living in Austria legally, was still registered at the 70-year-old’s address. It is currently unclear why the two broke up. Those close to the victim describe the suspect as unremarkable and mentally stable. During his interrogation, however, he is said to have made confused statements according to which he committed the murder ‘with the devil as an accomplice’, as reported by the Kronenzeitung newspaper on Sunday. The investigation is ongoing.
On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, around 4.00 am, a suspect threw a slab of concrete at the head of a homeless man who was sleeping at the Lievehaven Maritime Museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands,’ the police said. (…)
Police launched an appeal for witnesses on Saturday at the request of the Public Prosecution Service regarding the perpetrator of an attempted murder in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. After the offence, the suspect took a train in the direction of Belgium and could thus be in Belgium. (…) Anyone who recognises this person or knows where he is is asked to contact the investigators via avisderecherche@police.belgium.eu or by calling the toll-free number 0800 30 300. Sud Info Belgique
The 37-year-old homeless man was seriously injured as a result of the attack and remains in a critical condition in hospital. A security guard found him a few hours after the attack. (…) Volkskrant
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said that Europe must enact strict speech regulations on Elon Musk’s X platform to fight so-called “disinformation”.
Habeck, the likely candidate for chancellor for the leftist Green party in the upcoming elections, laid out his vision for Germany and Europe in a speech to the Neuhardenberg Castle Foundation on Saturday, including more internet censorship in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory.
“We cannot put democratic discourse in the hands of Elon Musk and Chinese software,” Habeck said, per Welt. Therefore, he argued, strict EU regulations must be applied to platforms such as TikTok and X.
The vice chancellor also called for Berlin to take an aggressive stance towards the Trump administration regarding trade and defence, arguing that the U.S. “needs us too… if Trump threatens, then we don’t have to hide.”
However, years of green policies advocated by Habeck’s party, including shutting down nuclear power entirely in the country, left Germany vulnerable to outside forces, notably the invasion of Ukraine and the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines.
The sorry state of the German economy resulted in the leftist coalition government collapsing this week, in part due to concerns about Trump’s return to the White House.
Habeck’s desire to further censor X was echoed in Paris, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot tellingLe Parisien on Saturday: “We will never accept that public debate is outsourced to deregulated social networks in the hands of special interests, whether American or Chinese.”
“Let us hope that he does not inflict on American democracy the treatment he has given to Twitter. Democracy is a fragile treasure,” Barrot added.
The European Union has long been at odds with Elon Musk over his efforts to reduce censorship from the previous Twitter regime. Notably, in August, then-EU censorship czar Thierry Breton demanded that Musk censor a live interview conducted with then-candidate Donald Trump.
The Frenchman warned that he would enact censorship powers granted to him under the draconian Digital Services Act (DSA), which include hefty fines and a potential ban from operating in the bloc if Musk refused to promote content which could “generate detrimental effects on civic discourse and public security” in Europe.
While the Biden administration refused to condemn the censorious threats from the other side of the Atlantic, there have been indications that a second Trump White House would be much more aggressive in responding to Brussels’ attempts to limit free speech.
Referencing the threats from Breton, then-vice presidential candidate JD Vance suggested in an interview with podcaster Shawn Ryan in September that Washington could make military support contingent on upholding key American values.
“What America should be saying is if NATO wants us to continue supporting them and NATO wants us to continue to be a good participant in this military alliance, why don’t you respect American values and free speech?” Vance said.
“It’s insane that we would support a military alliance if that military alliance isn’t going to be pro-free speech… we’ve got to say American power comes with certain strings attached, one of those is respect free speech, especially in our European allies.”
The Algerian citizen residing in Alès was tried on Wednesday November 6 before the criminal court of Montpellier after assaulting a police officer on arrival at the deportation camp in Sète on November 1. He was acquitted on the grounds of insulting behaviour.
This Algerian national, who had to leave the country, was picked up by the police in Alès. As a bicycle courier, he had taken the right of way of a Bac crew, who then checked his identity. Due to his situation, the 30-year-old man is taken to the Centre for Administrative Removals (CRA) in Sète on November 1, where things do not go according to plan from the moment he arrives. On Wednesday November 6, the father of two very young children (19 months and 16 days old) stood trial in the Montpellier criminal court for violence and insulting a police officer and for damaging property in the room where he had been placed.
‘I am a Muslim, you will go to hell’
At the hearing, the presiding judge, Julie Marot, revisits the proceedings in which the man is described as ‘agitated, virulent, nervous’ when he was admitted to the CRA. ‘I was agitated. I was working and they arrested me,’ he justifies himself. Then, while the officers were away, he tore down the wallpaper in the small room where he was being held and insulted one of the police officers. According to him, the man allegedly said: ‘I’m a Muslim and I’m going to bury you, you son of a bitch…’. In the dock, however, the accused denied making these remarks. ‘I wanted to say to him: ‘I am a Muslim, you will go to hell’, because he had been unkind to me. But I couldn’t finish my sentence.’
[…] In case of doubt, the court acquitted the defendant for the offence and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment with a warrant for the violence and damage to property. Compensation for the police officer, who appeared as a joint plaintiff, was the subject of a referral to Civil Court. Midi-Libre
On 6th November, the Switzerland government announced that a”burqa ban” in the country, which forbids the wearing of face coverings in public places, would go into force on 1st January of next year. According to the Federal Council, the prohibition will go into effect from the fixed date and those who break it risk fines of up to 1,000 Swiss francs, or about $1,144 (₹96,525). A Swiss referendum in 2021 narrowly approved the policy, which was criticized by Muslim organizations.
51.2% of Swiss voters had voted in favour of the ban. It was put in place by the same group that prevented the construction of new minarets in the country in 2009.
The provision will be implemented through the Federal Act on the Prohibition of Covering the Face. Violators of the act will be penalised through an administrative fine to minimise bureaucracy. The administrative fine would be CHF100 and it can be paid on site. However, if the fine is contested, it will go through normal procedure and the maximum fine in that case will be CHF1,000.
The Swiss government has made it clear that the ban on face covering will not be enforced on aircraft or in diplomatic and consular buildings. Furthermore, it will still be permissible to conceal one’s face in houses of worship and other places of worship. According to the administration, face coverings will be allowed for traditional reasons, health and safety, or weather-related reasons.
Additionally, they will be permitted for advertising, creative, or entertainment purposes. If the appropriate authority gives prior clearance and public order is maintained, face coverings may also be allowed for personal protection in relation to freedom of expression and assembly.
Background of the matter
A prohibition on facial coverings, including the burqas worn by Muslim women, was passed by Switzerland’s lower house of parliament in September of last year. With a vote of 151-29, the National Council finally adopted the law, which had previously been approved by the upper house. Despite opposition from the Greens and centrists, the measure was pushed through by the Swiss People’s Party. This decision comes after a nationwide referendum in 2021 in which Swiss voters supported a ban on bandannas and ski masks, which are frequently used by protestors, as well as facial coverings like burqas and niqabs, which only leave eye slits.
Although the law prohibits covering one’s mouth, nose, or eyes in public areas and privately accessible buildings, there are some exceptions. Similar prohibitions are already in place in two Swiss cantons, St. Gallen in the north and Ticino in the south. Switzerland is now in line with nations like Belgium and France that have implemented such limitations due to their respective national law.
A constitutional amendment initiative in Switzerland requires 100,000 signatures, but a referendum on parliamentary laws can be triggered with 50,000 signatures. A national vote results from the initiation of a referendum. The purchase of new fighter jets and the “burqa ban” on face coverings have been recent referendum matters.
