This is a decision made Monday evening by the immunity commission of the Swiss National Council.

Andreas Glarner, a national councillor from the UDC (Swiss People’s Party), will not be protected by immunity following his Islamophobic comments on social media: he wondered if it ‘wouldn’t be necessary to start putting a brake on a religion whose members seek to impose their demands for veils, special rights, caliphates, minarets, calls to prayer, Sharia courts, etc., through bomb attacks and assaults on innocent citizens,’ accompanied by ‘#stopislam’.

The immunity commission of the National Council determined that these remarks were not directly related to Andreas Glarner’s political mandate and that it would therefore ‘not be justified to grant him preferential treatment compared to private individuals who express themselves similarly on social media’.

This decision reminds us that elected officials are not exempt from being held accountable for discriminatory remarks they may make.