Zurich court gives Junge Tat leaders suspended prison sentences

A Zurich court has sentenced two leaders of the far-right group Junge Tat to 12 months in prison, suspended, over a series of actions between 2022 and 2024. SRF reported that four other defendants received suspended fines.

The two leaders must also pay immediate fines and will be subject to a four-year probation period. The four other defendants will pay their fines only if their suspended sentences are revoked, for example, if they commit another offence during probation.

The defendants were accused of several actions in Zurich, Basel, Winterthur and St Gallen. Prosecutors charged them, among other things, with discrimination, incitement to hatred, disruption of religious freedom, trespass and violations of explosives legislation.

Prosecutors had sought 15-month prison sentences for the two leaders, aged 24 and 25, with six months to be served. They requested suspended fines for the other four defendants. The accused denied most of the allegations and cited freedom of expression.

Among the best-known incidents was a June 2022 disruption of a service held during a Pride parade at the Catholic Church of St Peter and Paul in Zurich. Group members carried a large cross bearing the words “No Pride Month” into the church.

In October 2022, members disrupted a reading by drag performers at a venue called Tanzhaus in Zurich, trying to interrupt the event with a banner before continuing their protest outside. Other incidents included actions at Zurich main station, a construction site at Helvetiaplatz, and on the roofs of Basel and Winterthur railway stations, where members allegedly hung banners and set off smoke flares.

In August 2023, group members allegedly removed a flag reading “Refugees Welcome” from a building facade in St Gallen.

The two leaders had previously been convicted of racial discrimination. Six young men received suspended fines in connection with that case.