The National Council’s Immunity Commission has recommended that the judiciary be allowed to open proceedings against SVP National Councillor Andreas Glarner. The decision is not yet final. Marco Chiesa and Peter Keller retain their immunity. The decisions regarding Thomas Aeschi and Michael Graber have been postponed.
SVP National Councillor Andreas Glarner is facing criticism for an Islamophobic statement on X.
The National Council’s Immunity Commission decided by 5 to 4 votes on Monday that an Islamophobic statement made by SVP National Councillor Andreas Glarner on the platform X is not protected by parliamentary immunity. Glarner had made critical remarks about Islam following two knife attacks in Germany by men from Syria and Afghanistan. Subsequently, complaints of racial discrimination were filed against the politician. The Bern Public Prosecutor’s Office requested the lifting of Glarner’s immunity from Parliament in order to initiate criminal proceedings.
No Privileges on Social Networks
The Immunity Commission reached the surprising conclusion that Glarner’s statement had no direct connection to his official duties. The majority of the commission, which includes four SVP National Councillors, believed that parliamentarians should not be privileged when expressing themselves on social networks. According to the commission, if it were up to them, the path to prosecution should be clear. However, the matter is not yet final and still needs to be reviewed by the Council of States’ Legal Affairs Committee. Only if they also agree that there is no link between the statement and the office, and Glarner is not entitled to immunity in this case, can the Public Prosecutor’s Office initiate proceedings.
On the other hand, SVP Senator Marco Chiesa and former SVP National Councillor and party Secretary General Peter Keller do not have to worry about facing criminal proceedings. Complaints of racial discrimination were also lodged against them. Chiesa and Keller had highlighted the issues caused by criminal foreigners during the SVP Switzerland’s 2023 election campaign (“New Normality”). The organization of election campaigns is directly related to the parliamentary mandate. Such statements fall under freedom of expression and should therefore be tolerated, according to the Immunity Commission. This stance is in line with previous practices; in similar cases involving allegations of racially discriminatory statements, the immunity of the respective parliamentarians was also not revoked.
Further Investigations into the Scuffle
The commission has postponed the decision in the case that attracted the most attention: the scuffle between Thomas Aeschi and Michael Graber and two federal police officers, which occurred during the summer session in the Parliament building.
SVP National Councillors Aeschi and Graber disregarded a security service order during the visit of the Ukrainian Parliament President and used the closed main staircase in the Parliament building, resulting in a physical altercation and verbal confrontation with the two police officers stationed there. Subsequently, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office requested the lifting of the immunity of the two parliamentarians to initiate proceedings for potential obstruction of official duties.
The Immunity Commission apparently considers the matter important enough to conduct further investigations into the exact sequence of events. The Administrative Delegation will present its perspective to the commission regarding whether Aeschi and Graber violated the building’s security regulations.