Immunity of Bernese government councillor Schnegg will not be lifted
Published: Monday, Nov 25th 2024, 15:30
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The Bernese cantonal parliament did not lift the immunity of government councillor Pierre Alain Schnegg (SVP) on Monday. The public prosecutor's office of the Canton of Bern was unsuccessful in its application to the Grand Council.
108 members of the Grand Council voted against the waiver of Schnegg's immunity, 28 in favor. 19 abstained from voting.
A criminal complaint was filed against Schnegg in June. In an interview with Tamedia, the cantonal councillor had made "sweeping, unfounded and disparaging statements in several respects" in the course of his work as a councillor and violated the criminal law on racism, according to the accusation.
On 5 August, the public prosecutor's office in Bern therefore requested "authorization to prosecute" Schnegg. However, the Office of the Grand Council was of the opinion that there was not enough evidence "that Government Councillor Schnegg had disparaged or discriminated against a person or a group of people in a way that violated human dignity with his statements, as there were no blanket statements." The cantonal parliament took the same view.
According to the office, serving members of the government should be able to freely express fact-based opinions on topics within their area of responsibility. "They should not have to fear that they could be involved in criminal proceedings for every statement they make," it continued.
In the aforementioned interview on 3 May, Schnegg said, among other things, that it was mainly Roma who were fleeing to Switzerland from Ukraine, many of whom spoke neither Ukrainian nor Russian. The S protection status would be exploited by Roma clans "who presumably do not come from Ukraine." He assumes that these Roma are often abused by organizations. Once they have received the money from the social asylum assistance, they leave again.
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