On Wednesday, the leader of the UDC group in the Federal Chambers, Thomas Aeschi (UDC/ZG), and his colleague Michael Graber (UDC/VS) ignored the orders of the security service during the visit of the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Ruslan Stefantchouk, welcomed by his Swiss counterpart Erich Nussbaumer (PS/BL).
Security measures were very high at the Federal Palace and a security perimeter had been set up to allow the two presidents to take a photo in front of the Three Swiss monument. But the two UDC elected officials wanted to go in force to take the main staircase. They were physically prevented from doing so by officers on duty. The two parliamentarians justified their behavior by the fact that these security measures prevented them from working.
The affair sparked numerous reactions, including that of Federal Councilor Albert Rösti, who defended his party colleague. But many parliamentarians had doubts about the intentions of the two men, because they would have only had to take the elevator to go down. In other words, they would have knowingly caused this scandal to show their bad mood in the face of the presence of the Ukrainian delegation.
On Facebook, the former spokesperson for the Valais police, Jean-Marie Bornet, believes that the two men should be sentenced under article 285 of the Penal Code which punishes violence against civil servants. “Whoever, says this article, by using violence or threat, prevents an authority, a member of an authority or an official from carrying out an act falling within their functions, forces them to carry out such an act or engages in in fact on them while they are doing so, is punishable by a custodial sentence of up to three years.”
The spice of the story is that the UDC has continued to demand in recent years in Parliament more severity towards those who use violence against police officers and civil servants. This was one of the leitmotifs of the group in the Federal Chambers with interventions by Oskar Freysinger (UDC/VS), Sandra Sollberger (UDC/BL) and Sylvia Flückiger-Bäni (UDC/AG).
Thomas Aeschi had also supported the latter’s motion, which requested: “The Federal Council is responsible for proposing to Parliament a new wording of article 285 of the Swiss Penal Code in order to establish much more severe sanctions in the event of violence or threat against authorities and officials. In this regard, it is imperative to introduce non-suspended custodial sentences.”
Finally, the penalties were slightly toughened and came into force on July 1, 2023. Thomas Aeschi and Michael Graber could, however, assert their parliamentary immunity.
