Convicted Aargau SVP local politician runs for the Grand Council
Published: Monday, Jun 10th 2024, 14:00
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Aargau SVP local politician Naveen Hofstetter, who has been convicted of speeding, will run for the cantonal parliament on the SVP list for the Zofingen district. This was decided by the management of the district party. The Federal Supreme Court had confirmed Hofstetter's conviction.
The SVP base nominated Hofstetter without objection in January in the knowledge of his conviction by the district and high courts, the district party announced on Monday. The five-member executive committee voted unanimously.
For the SVP, freedom of opinion is a valuable asset in a democracy and in Switzerland. Therefore, the people should decide whether Hofstetter is eligible for election to the cantonal parliament or not. The local politician had already run for the cantonal parliament in 2021. The new election will take place next October.
In April, the Federal Supreme Court dismissed the man's appeal against the ruling of the Aargau High Court. In November 2022, the court had sentenced the local politician to a conditional fine of 70 daily rates of CHF 170 and a fine of CHF 2,500 for multiple acts of discrimination and incitement to hatred. Hofstetter wanted an acquittal.
In the run-up to the "marriage for all" vote, he had published three posts on his Facebook profile in which he denigrated people from Africa and same-sex couples.
Federal court confirms conviction
In its ruling published last week and released on Wednesday, the Federal Supreme Court stated that the terms used, such as "men of African origin" and "African refugees", referred to an ethnic group or race that was covered by the criminal provision against discrimination in the Criminal Code.
The complainant had targeted an entire continent with the chosen expressions. The core message of another post was also that people living in same-sex partnerships were unnatural or second-class citizens. According to the Federal Supreme Court, this is a sweeping disparagement within the meaning of the law.
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