(Swiss Info) Qatar-funded projects in Switzerland, including a building complex costing CHF22 million ($21.5 million), have been stopped. The decision comes amid controversial revelations of the “Qatar Papers,” a book published by French journalists. The founder of the Swiss Muslim Cultural Institute […]
(Local) An online job listing seeking a “Swiss” driver has caused outrage among members of Switzerland’s migrant community. An online job ad for Schärer Transport AG, a logistics company based in the canton of St Gallen, has been called out for discrimination […]
(IPT) Tariq Ramadan, grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna, received €35,000 — roughly $39,290 — per month from the Qatar Foundation as a “consultant,” documents obtained by French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot show, the Swiss newspaper Tribune de Genve […]
(National-UAE) Details of the lavish payments made by Qatar to Muslim Brotherhood organisations in Europe, including furnishing funds the academic Tariq Ramadan has used for legal fees to fight rape allegations, have emerged in a new book. Qatar Papers — How the […]
(Swiss Info) A Swiss parliamentary decision seeking automatic deportation of convicted terrorists even if their lives are at risk has met widespread criticism. The human rights organisation Amnesty International described Tuesday’s decision to ignore international safeguards and practices as unacceptable. “It will […]
(Swiss Info) The Swiss government has presented its plans for a legal amendment to prevent a nationwide ban on face-covering headgear, proposed by a rightwing people’s initiative. Under the proposal, a person must show his or her face for identity checks by […]
(Local) In an early test for Geneva’s controversial new secularism law, a Muslim councillor on Tuesday chose to sit in the public gallery during a recent council meeting rather than obey the new legislation by removing her headscarf so that she could […]
(Local) The Swiss justice minister on Monday confirmed that the country was looking at revoking the passport of a Swiss citizen who fought for the so-called Islamic State (ISIS). Speaking in the lower house of the Swiss parliament, Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter […]
(Swiss Info) The Swiss government has rejected calls to actively repatriate Islamic militants with Swiss nationality from Syria or Iraq. Swiss citizens will not be prevented from returning to the country, according to a government statement published on Friday, but authorities want […]
(Local) A Zurich appeals court has upheld a fine for a Muslim man who chose not to send his three sons to a rehearsal for a Christmas concert. In its ruling, the court stated that the children’s obligatory attendance at the rehearsal […]
(Reuters) A ban on female genital mutilation extends to cases where the ritual cutting was performed in another country prior to the perpetrator coming to Switzerland, the nation’s highest court said on Friday, upholding a Somali woman’s conviction last year. The woman, […]
(Local) One of the key figures behind a successful campaign to have burqas banned in the Swiss canton of Ticino now wants Muslims banned from praying in public. The move by political maverick Giorgio Ghiringhelli comes in the wake of a number […]
(AFP) Geneva residents on Sunday voted for a controversial new “secularism law,” which will among other things ban elected officials and public employees from wearing visible religious symbols. More than 55 percent of voters in the Swiss canton backed the law, final […]
(Swiss Info) The office of the attorney general of Switzerland has filed an appeal against the acquittal of two leaders of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS) who had been accused of terrorist propaganda. A third defendant has appealed against his […]
(Swiss Info) The government has presented plans to spend up to CHF500,000 ($503,000) annually to protect minority groups in Switzerland against militant extremism and terrorist attacks. The proposal foresees financial contributions for additional building measures, including walls, security gates and video and […]
(Local) Police in the Swiss city of Schaffhausen have defended their decision to fine a man who used the words “Allahu akbar” in public. The incident in May 2018, which saw the man fined 150 Swiss francs (€132) plus 60 francs in […]
(Swiss Info) Some consumers in Switzerland and abroad have been questioning the halal label on Toblerone chocolate bars. Although certified as halal in April, it was only this week that a small storm began brewing on social media — with some people […]
(Swiss Info) Zurich cantonal court has upheld the conviction handed down one year ago to a Muslim preacher who worked at a Winterthur mosque, accused of spreading hate and inciting violence. The Ethiopian faces a suspended sentence and deportation. The Zurich court […]
(National-UAE) A devastating new report summarising Swiss investigations into Tariq Ramadan sets out a series of alleged sexual assaults and contacts with underage girls. The Oxford professor was arrested in France in February on charges of sexual assault, and has since faced […]
(Al-Arabiya) A confidential report has been disclosed by a French-speaking Swiss private radio confirming sexual abuse allegations against Islamic Swiss scholar Tariq Ramadan. Ramadan was barely out of prison on bail in France, where he faces rape charges, when he was caught […]
(Breitbart) German author and undercover journalist Shams Ul-Haq claims to have visited hundreds of mosques across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and says that one in ten mosques there preaches radical Islamic ideas. Mr Ul-Haq, who is originally from Pakistan, said that the […]
(AFP) Switzerland’s government on Wednesday backtracked from its pledge to support a United Nations migration pact after lawmakers insisted they have the final say on the matter. The United States, several European countries along with Israel and Australia have already said they […]
(Local) The number of requests for asylum in Switzerland was down nearly a fifth in the first nine months of 2018 and at its lowest level since 2010. A total of 11,484 people requested asylum in the country from January to June, […]
(Local) A Swiss court has handed eight men suspended sentences of up to 18 months for their role in a 2016 attack in which two worshippers at a controversial mosque in Winterthur were beaten, locked up and threatened with death over suspicions […]
(Swiss Info) Canton Ticino must make more exceptions to its ban on wearing face-covering headgear in public places, the Federal Court has ruled. This ruling came in response to two appeals against the controversial Ticino ban, which was voted in 2013. In […]
(Swiss Info) Businessman and activist Rachid Nekkaz has said he will pay the fines that burka-wearing Muslims in St Gallen incur for breaking the canton’s recent ban on facial coverings in public. Nekkaz arrived in St Gallen’s capital city of the same name on Wednesday, […]
(AFP) A second Swiss canton will introduce a regional “burqa ban,” after voters in St. Gallen on Sunday emphatically backed prohibiting all face-covering garments in public spaces. At the same time, voters across Switzerland resoundingly rejected initiatives aimed at boosting local farming […]
(AFP) A second Swiss canton will vote Sunday on whether to introduce a regional “burqa ban,” a controversial law that would prohibit all face-covering garments in public spaces. The ballot in northeastern St. Gallen is to be held as voters across the […]
(Swiss Info) Marriages involving minors must be annulled, according to Swiss law. However, exceptions are permitted if it seems to be in the child’s best interests. This provision must be done away with to combat forced marriages more effectively, says lawyer Anu […]
(AFP) Prosecutors in Geneva have opened a rape and sexual misconduct investigation against Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, who has been detained in France since February on separate rape charges, Swiss media reported Sunday. The Tribune de Geneve newspaper quoted Geneva’s prosecutor’s office […]
(Swiss Info) The Federal Court says that an initiative by the conservative right Swiss People’s Party to ban head coverings in schools in the southern canton of Valais is invalid. It confirms the decision taken by the Valais parliament. The People’s Party […]
(Al-Arabiya) A court in Geneva hearing the Tariq Ramadan case has explained that the “threshold necessary to justify opening a criminal investigation is present and this has been the case since the beginning of the procedure,” a report in the Le Point […]
(Swiss Info) The Swiss Centre for Islam and Society has announced the start of a training programme that will prepare Muslim spiritual leaders to give emergency support in hospitals, at care-homes or after an accident. The need for qualified Muslim chaplains in public institutions has been […]
(Swiss Info) A series of ads that display Bible verses, currently on display on public transport in the city of Biel in canton Bern, is stirring controversy. A local politician has posted questions about the campaign to Facebook, sparking a series of […]
(Swiss Info) A couple who refused to shake hands or answer questions with members of the opposite sex on a naturalisation board in Lausanne have been denied Swiss citizenship. In a statement issued on Friday, the Lausanne city authorities confirmed a recent […]
(Swiss Info) The Federation of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland has warned against associating crimes with a certain religion. In an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) on Tuesday, federation spokesperson Pascal Gemperli said that someone’s religious affiliation was not a determining factor […]
(Swiss Info) A Somali woman from canton Neuchâtel has been sentenced to eight months’ prison over the genital mutilation of her two daughters, in the first Swiss case of its kind after a law change. The girls were six and a half […]
(Local) Right-wing politician Andrea Glarner has offered to donate 2,000 Cervelat sausages to Swiss schoolchildren after their teachers asked parents to avoid bringing pork to an end-of-term picnic. “I don’t wish to force Muslim children to eat pork,” said Glarner, a member […]
(Swiss Info) The government plans to earmark CHF500,000 ($503,000) annually to improve protection of minorities, notably the Jewish and the Muslim communities in Switzerland, from terrorist attacks. The funds are to be used to finance education and awareness, as well as other […]
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