ECHR orders Switzerland to pay damages over ‘verbal racism’ case

Europe’s top human rights court has ordered Switzerland to pay compensation to a Swiss anti-racism group for infringing its freedom of expression. Swiss courts had condemned the group and demanded it remove online comments citing a speech by a Thurgau politician as “verbal racism”.

The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights ruled unanimously on Tuesdayexternal link that article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention of Human Rights had been infringed in the case of GRA Stiftung Gegen Rassismus und Antisemitismus (The GRA Foundation against Racism and AntiSemitism) against Switzerland.

In November 2009, the NGO had reported on a meeting at Frauenfeld by the youth wing of the Swiss People’s Party, which was held in the run-up to the referendum to ban the building of new minarets.

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