Vaud prosecutors open case over antisemitic remarks at far-right meeting

Vaud prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into statements made at a far-right meeting in the canton, some of which may violate Switzerland’s anti-racism law, Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported.

The meeting, titled “What future for white Europe?”, was held in mid-July in the Gros-de-Vaud region and organised by the French-speaking Swiss nationalist group Résistance Helvétique. Videos of speeches that openly flirted with antisemitism were later shared on social media. The most-viewed video has received more than 25,000 views.

One speaker drew particular attention from prosecutors after calling children taken on school visits to Auschwitz-Birkenau or a Holocaust memorial “subservient to Jews”. The Federal Commission against Racism told SRF that some statements made at the gathering could fall under Article 261bis of the Swiss Criminal Code, which prohibits discrimination and incitement to hatred. The offence carries a penalty of up to three years in prison or a fine.

Vaud Attorney General Eric Kaltenrieder told SRF that prosecutors were still assessing the precise legal classification of the events, but had opened the case on suspicion of breaches of Article 261bis. Investigators are now seeking to identify those who may have committed an offence, particularly among the organisers and speakers.

Speakers included French revisionists Jérôme Bourbon and Vincent Reynouard, both of whom have been convicted multiple times in France, including for denying crimes against humanity. Neither they nor the event organiser commented to SRF on the investigation.

Reynouard had also been due to speak at a gathering in Toulouse on September 19, but authorities banned the event over what they called a serious risk of antisemitic and Holocaust-denying statements. SRF obtained a copy of the speech he had planned to give, which was intended to prompt debate about the existence of gas chambers.