Incident at the University of Geneva: Criminal complaint after attack on SVP National Councilor
Criminal complaint after attack on SVP National Councilor
Unknowns attacked Céline Amaudruz in a lecture hall. Now the university management is turning on the judiciary.
It was to be a peaceful evening of speeches and debates about Swiss neutrality. On December 21, 200 people sat in the lecture hall at the University of Geneva. Four speakers presented their thoughts on Switzerland’s historical position. In the end, a jury should decide who of the speakers argued best. SVP National Councilor Céline Amaudruz, a lawyer and graduate of the University of Geneva, was on the jury. The event was organized by the foreign policy think tank Foraus and the debating club of the University of Geneva.
Suddenly, two people forced their way into the law school lecture hall and poured a smelly liquid into the room. According to the University of Geneva, there were nine masked people in the room at the end. They began to insult and discredit Céline Amaudruz. They then left the lecture hall unrecognized.
Already the third disruption
“It’s the first time that masked people have attacked me,” says the SVP National Councilor from Geneva. The Rectorate of the University of Geneva has now reacted and filed a criminal complaint against unknown persons. The actions were “unacceptable,” said the university after a rectorate meeting on Wednesday evening. The procedure is a “threat to freedom of expression and impedes those rules that are essential for the democratic functioning of our society,” according to the university management.
If the troublemakers are exposed and identified as students, they must answer to the university’s disciplinary committee and, if necessary, be subject to sanctions.
“It’s the only correct response to the attack.”
“It’s the only right reaction to the attack,” says Celine Amaudruz when asked by this newspaper. In the past few days, she has demanded that the university exclude perpetrators from their studies. Amaudruz no longer wants to go that far after the Rectorate’s decision, but continues to call for “an administrative punishment”.
The University of Geneva writes that the attack on Celine Amaudruz is the third disruption or even prevention of a public event that has already taken place in the university. This contradicts the values of the university, which are based on “rejection of violence, respect for freedom of expression and respect for all people”. In previous cases, dialogue was used instead of confrontation, but now the decision has been made to involve the judiciary.
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