One of the Muslim graves vandalised in the Bois-de-Vaux cemetery in Lausanne.
Keystone / Jean-Christophe Bott
Muslim graves in a cemetery in the Swiss city of Lausanne have been vandalised. Fifteen out of 22 Muslim graves had Islamophobic slogans written on them over the weekend, according to local police.
A specific section of the Bois-de-Vaux cemetery in the French-speaking city has been reserved for Muslims since 2016, a decision that has caused a lot of controversy.
Lausanne police said they are investigating the incident and authorities said the vandalism is being repaired. Pierre-Antoine Hildebrand, the city’s security director, told the Swiss News Agency on Monday that the city officials are “reflecting” on how to deal with the situation and are considering installing a video surveillance system in the cemetery.
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Since 2000, about 15 cities, mostly in German-speaking parts of Switzerland, have created Muslim sections in their cemeteries. Debate over whether this was necessary erupted last spring when several German-speaking media outlets reported that few of these plots were being used. The Lucerne youth chapter of the rightwing Swiss People’s Party called for the Muslim…
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The Lausanne police confirmed the acts of vandalism, first reported in the news daily 20 Minutes. Damage discovered by police on Sunday afternoon included painted swastikas, overturned headstones and crushed flowers. An investigation is underway to find who did it. The graves were targeted based on the names on the headstones, according to a Lausanne…
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Only the local Hindu population, mainly Tamils from Sri Lanka, are supposed to use this particular spot in this way. The authorities don’t want to encourage funeral tourism from other parts of Switzerland. (TSI/swissinfo.ch)
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Swiss Islam specialists say the legal strategy proposed by Farhad Afshar, president of the Coordination of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland, is the wrong approach to an inexistent problem. On Sunday Afshar told the Sonntag newspaper he was preparing a legal case concerning freedom of religion after the Bernese commune of Köniz recently rejected a separate…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.