Number of threats against Swiss politicians drops

A view of parliamentarians inside the House of Representatives in the Swiss Federal Parliament building in Bern © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Swiss politicians, judges and officials received 669 threats last year, of which 43 were serious, according to the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol). This represents 57 fewer reported threats than in 2017. 

According to its annual report, cited on Saturday by the Schweiz am Wochenende newspaper, Fedpol received three alerts a month from cantonal police forces about officials who had been threatened last year. These included people working for the federal authorities, ministers, parliamentarians and prosecutors. 

This is the first time Fedpol has published the number of serious threats against top officials. 

According to previous data, recorded threats were generally related to issues surrounding refugees, asylum seekers and policy towards the European Union. The number of cases typically increases during votes and elections. 

Overall, reported crime – violations of the Criminal Code – in Switzerland was down by 1.4% in 2018 compared to the previous year, according to the most recent federal statistics in March.