This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/21/switzerland-police-officer-racist-slur-law
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Swiss court rules police officer's slurs did not breach anti-racism law | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Calling someone a "foreign pig" or "dirty asylum seeker" is insulting but is not against Switzerland's anti-racism law, the country's top court has ruled. | |
| The federal tribunal found in favour of a police officer who had used the slurs when he arrested an Algerian suspected thief. | The federal tribunal found in favour of a police officer who had used the slurs when he arrested an Algerian suspected thief. |
| The incident took place at a trade fair in the northern city of Basel in April 2007, where the Algerian was detained for allegedly snatching a Russian man's bag. After checking the suspect's identity papers, the policeman discovered that he was an asylum seeker and insulted him. | The incident took place at a trade fair in the northern city of Basel in April 2007, where the Algerian was detained for allegedly snatching a Russian man's bag. After checking the suspect's identity papers, the policeman discovered that he was an asylum seeker and insulted him. |
| As a result, the officer received a suspended fine for breaking the country's anti-racism laws. | As a result, the officer received a suspended fine for breaking the country's anti-racism laws. |
| After the penalty was overturned by another court, the case worked its way up to the top of the Swiss justice system. | After the penalty was overturned by another court, the case worked its way up to the top of the Swiss justice system. |
| The tribunal said that while such terms were clearly insulting, they were too broad to fall foul of anti-racism rules because they did not target a particular ethnic group, race or religion. | The tribunal said that while such terms were clearly insulting, they were too broad to fall foul of anti-racism rules because they did not target a particular ethnic group, race or religion. |
| It also said calling someone "dirty" – even if the individual's nationality was mentioned – was not against the anti-racism law. | It also said calling someone "dirty" – even if the individual's nationality was mentioned – was not against the anti-racism law. |