Bern’s security director calls on people to refrain from holding rallies
Published: Wednesday, Nov 8th 2023, 05:00
Updated At: Thursday, Nov 9th 2023, 00:54
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Bern's Director of Security Philippe Müller (FDP) has called for Palestine rallies to be avoided. In an interview with the "Berner Zeitung" newspaper, he said that there was a high probability of violence at the next rally.
Müller came to this conclusion after assessing the situation together with the police and the police intelligence service, as he said in an interview on Wednesday. However, the licensing authority is the city of Bern and not the canton. Müller said that he was making the appeal as cantonal security director.
According to him, there could be more violence and more flags with banned content at the next event. He also said that no one could guarantee that extremists from Germany would not come to Switzerland to stir up the atmosphere, looking across the border.
Müller does not see a conflict with freedom of expression. "Freedom of expression can also be abused by people chanting extreme slogans at a demonstration for peace," he said.
Anti-Semitism "not acceptable
Anti-Semitism is "simply not acceptable" in Switzerland, said Müller. It is particularly tragic that these days mark the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht. "And I have the impression that post-war Europe has never been as close to the conditions of that time as it is today," said Müller. It is also unacceptable that events are canceled or not announced because of possible violence.
Thousands of people expressed their solidarity with the Palestinians on the Bundesplatz in Bern last Saturday. The atmosphere at the rally was loud and sometimes heated, but not violent. The police were present, but remained in the background with a larger contingent.
©Keystone/SDA
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