Bern public prosecutor’s office wants to lift Andreas Glarner’s immunity

woe. The public prosecutor’s office in Bern-Mittelland wants to investigate SVP National Councilor Andreas Glarner. The reason for this is a post critical of Islam on X that Glarner published after the knife attacks in Mannheim and Solingen.

One person reported Glarner anonymously because of these statements. However, the public prosecutor cannot open criminal proceedings against Andreas Glarner as long as he enjoys political immunity.

The public prosecutor’s office in Bern-Mittelland therefore submitted a request for the lifting of Glarner’s immunity on November 5th. This emerges from a transaction published on the Parliament’s website. The case is now before the National Council’s Immunity Commission. She must decide whether Glarner can be prosecuted or not.

The commission will discuss the case on November 18th, as Pierre-André Page, the president of the commission, told “Blick”. The commission will inform about its decision on the same day.

Like all council members, Glarner has political immunity. It is intended to prevent members of state institutions from being hindered by criminal prosecution in the exercise of their mandates.

Not the first controversy

It is not the first time that Andreas Glarner’s activities on social networks have had legal consequences. In October 2023, Green Party politician Sibel Arslan filed a lawsuit against Glarner for violating her personal rights. The reason for this was a video shared by Glarner that was produced using artificial intelligence.

It showed a deceptively real Sibel Arslan making political statements that did not correspond to her actual beliefs. The civil court upheld Arslan’s lawsuit and Glarner had to pay almost 4,000 francs. Glarner’s immunity did not apply in this case because council members are not protected from civil prosecution outside of the councils and their bodies.