Switzerland: Muslim hate preacher Abu Ramadan charged with racial discrimination and fraud

The controversial Libyan preacher Abu Ramadan will have to answer to the regional court in Biel. The public prosecutor’s office has charged the 68-year-old with racial discrimination and fraud, as it announced on Wednesday.

The man allegedly incited hatred against people on the basis of their religion or ethnicity at the Ar’Rahman Mosque in Biel on July 7, 2017. The legal proceedings were triggered by a criminal complaint.

The investigation took a long time. First, an expert had to translate the sermon from Arabic into German. Then the public prosecutor’s office obtained an expert opinion on the interpretation of what was said.

According to the findings of the public prosecutor’s office, Abu Ramadan “repeatedly expressed the wish that certain persons or groups of persons of certain ethnicities or religions should be annihilated”. He had thus incited hatred and was guilty of racial discrimination.

The case had become known due to media reports. The preacher had targeted Jews, Christians, Hindus, Russians and Shiites. He has since stopped his activities in the mosque at the request of the supporting association.

Abu Ramadan is also accused of unlawfully taking social assistance. These investigations were also “extremely time-consuming”, according to the public prosecutor’s office. The accused did not cooperate with the investigation and in particular did not answer questions about his income.

Abu Ramadan’s municipality of residence, Nidau near Biel, had filed a complaint for alleged social welfare fraud. The Libyan had declared to the municipality that he had no income and no assets.

However, according to the findings of the public prosecutor’s office, the man organised pilgrimages and partly earned a concrete income. In part, however, he had also waived to receive the money. From the prosecution’s point of view, the suspicion of unlawful receipt of social welfare benefits was substantiated.

Abu Ramadan has always denied the accusations. He has since lost his former refugee and asylum status and now lives in Switzerland thanks to a C permit. If convicted, he faces deportation.

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