Mi, Aug 31st 2022
The national alpine wrestling festival ends, how a Swiss village became overrun with tourists and more in our roundup of Swiss news from August 26 – 31.
Three members of the Russian feminist group, Pussy Riot, were arrested in Bern.
Pussy Riot arrested in Switzerland
Members of the Russian punk music group Pussy Riot were arrested this week in Bern for writing anti-war messages in graffiti, according to Swiss police. The group is known for its provocative style of protesting Russian president Vladmir Putin and his policies. Members Masha Alekhina, Taso Pletner and Lucy Shtein were handcuffed and detained Monday night. Although Swiss police initially said the women may be fined or expelled from the country, they were released a few hours later saying that it is up to the owner of the graffitied wall to press charges. The group put a statement on their Facebook page after their release, reading “It turns out that two institutions located in Bern – the Russian Embassy and the Swiss police – seem to act together.” The group is currently on tour and set to perform in Bern Thursday night. No word yet on whether the concert will be canceled. Mehr lesen.
A new ‘Schwingen King’ is crowned
Switzerland this week held its national Alpine wrestling championship, or “Schwingfest,” drawing in hundreds of thousands of spectators. The festival, which has been held every three years since 1895, keeps alive the unique, national pastime. In Schwingen, wrestlers are dressed in traditional Swiss attire and use looped belts to throw their opponents over. The two-day festival outside of Basel pitted 274 wrestlers against each other. Joel Wicki, a 25-year-old from canton Luzern, was crowned the “Schwingen King.” Wicki said it was his “childhood dream to win.” Wicki got to take home the traditional prize of a bull. Mehr lesen.
Are Swiss elections vulnerable to Russian hackers?
Russians may be trying to use Swiss servers to influence Swiss parliamentary elections and destabilize Western democracies, according to an internal report from the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) shared with the SonntagsBlick newspaper. According to the report, Moscow uses a “tailored mix of disinformation, cyber-attacks, the instrumentalization of individuals, groups and institutions.” Some politicians – particularly those in the Green Party – say that allowing Russian diplomats to stay in the country during the Russo-Ukrainian war further weakens Switzerland’s defenses against such attacks. Mehr lesen.
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