Trial/Court Zurich SVP politician Walder denies accusation of racism
Former Zurich SVP cantonal president Patrick Walder vehemently denied being a racist at the Uster district court on Wednesday. The court will announce its verdict in a week's time.
14.05.2025, 09:16
14.05.2025, 13:33
SDA
The 37-year-old Walder has been charged with racism because the SVP allegedly described Eritreans as "violent criminals who cannot be integrated" in a media release. The press release was sent out in summer 2019 - during the hot phase of the national election campaign.
It was triggered by an incident at Frankfurt main station in which an Eritrean from the canton of Zurich pushed a mother and her 8-year-old son in front of an arriving train. The boy died. The Eritrean was permanently admitted to a psychiatric clinic.
"Women and children in danger"
The SVP wrote in a press release that this heinous act showed once again that such people are "violent criminals who cannot be integrated" and have no place in Switzerland. They would "endanger families, especially women and children".
Walder argued in court that this was a criticism of the federal government's asylum policy - not the ethnicity of the Eritreans. It was absolutely right for the SVP to take a stand on current issues if they were due to political misconduct. This was the case with the incident in Frankfurt.
Moreover, he had not written the text of the media release himself. He was at a campsite in Austria at the time because he was on his way to the worldwide 2CV ("Döschwo") meeting in Croatia. "I only had sporadic contact with the party and was therefore unable to review and approve everything."
Because he was President at the time, he took political responsibility. "But the fact that they now want to prosecute me as a person is completely wrong."
The public prosecutor, who was not present at the trial, is demanding a conditional fine of 40 daily rates of 210 francs and a fine of 800 francs.
"Never felt so unwanted"
The SVP, or rather Walder, was reported by two private individuals. One private plaintiff, a 24-year-old Eritrean woman from Zurich, harshly criticized the SVP in court: "I have never felt so unwelcome in Switzerland as I did when I saw this text," said the practice assistant during questioning.
Since the SVP spread this hate speech against Eritreans, she has been asked about her origin time and again. "As soon as I say that I'm from Eritrea, it starts." This is now part of her everyday life.
"This was not a snap decision"
For the private plaintiffs' lawyers, it is clear that Walder saw and approved the text. He had admitted as much in an email. "Even if he doesn't want to remember it today," said one of the lawyers.
A second lawyer emphasized that the chaos at the SVP secretariat at the time due to vacations and staffing was only an excuse. "This was not an uncontrolled rush job. Walder simply didn't find the content of the media release problematic."
This can also be seen in the election campaign video, which was also directed against Eritreans. In this video, blood was splashed on the white Swiss flag. YouTube eventually blocked the video for hate speech. The public prosecutor's office also opened criminal proceedings in relation to this video, but has since discontinued them.
