Findings of the Immunity Commission No immunity protection for SVP National Councillor Glarner after tweet

SVP National Councillor Andreas Glarner from Aargau does not enjoy protection from investigations through parliamentary immunity after making statements against Islam on the short messaging service X. This is the view of the responsible committee of the National Council.

The National Council's Immunity Committee (IK-N) came to the conclusion by 5 votes to 4 that there is no immunity protection for the Aargau SVP National Councillor Andreas Glarner following a tweet containing statements against Islam.

The request was made by the public prosecutor's office of the canton of Bern. It had requested authorization to investigate Glarner on suspicion of discrimination and incitement to hatred in accordance with the anti-racism penal code.

The majority of the IC-N is of the opinion that members of the Council should not be given blanket privileges over private individuals when they express themselves on platforms that are accessible to all. The responsible Council of States committee now has to decide on the request.

Marco Chiesa's immunity not waived

Freedom of expression is important in election campaigns. The responsible parliamentary committees have therefore not lifted the immunity of SVP member of the Council of States Marco Chiesa in connection with investigations into an SVP election campaign.

The Bernese judiciary wanted to investigate whether the SVP campaign with the slogan "New normality?" from 2023 violated the anti-discrimination norm. The campaign for the elections in the fall of 2023 denounced criminal acts by asylum seekers with the slogan "New normality".

The Attorney General's Office in Bern therefore requested that the immunity of Chiesa - who was SVP President during the campaign - and also of the then SVP National Councillor and then SVP General Secretary Peter Keller be lifted. Chiesa is still a member of the Council of States; he has since relinquished the party presidency.

However, the National Council's Immunity Committee (IK-N) has now refused to waive the immunity of the two, in the case of Chiesa by 6 votes to 3 and in the case of Keller by 6 votes to 2 and with one abstention. The campaign's statements were deemed to be part of the free expression and formation of opinion in the context of a democratic election campaign. They must therefore be tolerated.

The decision is final, as the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of States had previously made the same decision.

Decision on the immunity of Aeschi and Graber postponed

The National Council's Immunity Committee has postponed its decision to waive the immunity of SVP National Councillors Thomas Aeschi and Michael Graber. The latter had been involved in a scuffle with police officers during the visit of Ukrainian Parliament President Ruslan Stefanchuk to the Federal Palace.

The Immunity Committee of the National Council (IC-N) wants to postpone the decision until it has received a statement from the Federal Assembly's administrative delegation. The latter should first explain whether, in its view, the two National Councillors violated the security regulations for the building, the IC-N announced on Monday evening.

According to the Federal Security Service (FSD) operations journal, National Councillors Thomas Aeschi and Michael Graber attempted to use the main staircase of the parliament building during the visit of the Ukrainian President of Parliament, contrary to the instructions of the FSD security assistants. When they were restrained by the officers, a scuffle ensued with physical violence and verbal altercations.

On suspicion of obstruction of an official act, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) submitted a request on September 19, 2024 to waive the immunity of the two members of parliament involved. The IC-N heard National Councillors Aeschi and Graber on Monday. National Councillor Aeschi claimed that he had been physically assaulted directly without first being made aware of the ban, the committee announced.

National Councillor Graber added, according to the IC-N statement, that this ban had not been communicated in advance by the parliamentary administration. He had also sought a discussion and helped to de-escalate the situation.

SDA