Youth Tat trial before Zurich court: hate speech or freedom of expression?
Six members of the far-right Youth Tat group appeared before Zurich district court. At the centre: slogans such as "No Pride Month" and disruptive actions at LGBTQ+ events in 2022.
Far-right Youth Tat before Zurich district court: slogans under scrutiny
Six representatives of the far-right movement Youth Tat answered to Zurich district court. As reported by Google News CH — Crime (de), the proceedings centred on the question of whether the group's slogans should be classified as discriminatory hate speech or fall under the protection of freedom of expression.
The indictment was based on two actions from 2022: the accused had then disrupted a Pride church service and a LGBTQ+ children's reading event at the Tanzhaus — both in Zurich. The main charge was "discrimination and incitement to hatred". The public prosecutor's office relied on slogans such as "Family instead of gender ideology" and "No Pride Month".
For the leadership duo of Youth Tat, the prosecutor requested 15 months of imprisonment, including six months without parole — an unusually harsh sentence. In order to present the slogans as punishable, the prosecutor stated that no one was permitted to impose their position on others by force.
One defence counsel objected: no violence had been used during the two actions. His client, part of the leadership duo, could therefore be charged at most with trespassing and illegal recording of a private conversation. The court files contain no evidence of physical violence against persons — no one was injured or attacked, and corresponding charges are absent.
Also part of the indictment was the charge of coercion: Youth Tat allegedly blocked Tanzhaus guests for at least ten minutes. However, two of the witnesses questioned estimated the duration of the action at only three to five minutes; only one witness spoke of at least ten minutes. In light of federal court case law, such a time period is generally considered narrow for a coercion offence.
In addition to allegations surrounding the slogans, the accused also had to answer charges of violating the mask ban. Outside the courthouse, approximately 200 left-wing radicals gathered for a counter-demonstration — some also masked, but left unmolested by police.
A reporter from CH Media was denied access to the proceedings, on the grounds that there was insufficient space. It later emerged that the courtroom was not at full capacity. Criminal trials are in principle open to the public in Switzerland.
The judicial panel consists of three men — two representatives of the SP and one of the SVP. The time at which the verdict would be announced was not known at the time of reporting.
At the margins of the proceedings, a demonstration in Aarau also came to light: following an action by Youth Tat outside the cantonal government building there, the Juso Aargau called for a counter-demonstration on Monday evening at the station square — approved by Aarau's security chief Daniel Ringier.
Source: Google News CH — Crime (de)