The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Man who drove into Swiss pro-Palestine demo released

Lausanne: the hit-and-run driver who ploughed into a crowd has been released
Lausanne: the hit-and-run driver who ploughed into a crowd has been released Keystone-SDA

The motorist who forced his way through a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Lausanne on Saturday was released on Monday after spending two nights in prison. He had not acted for political or ideological reasons, according to the authorities.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The 56-year-old man from Lausanne admitted the offence and explained that he had not been aware of the nature of the demonstration, the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Monday evening.

His manoeuvre, which slightly injured two people, was aimed at getting around the demonstrators in order to cross the Chauderon bridge to go under the railway station. “His state of health may have played a role in his behaviour,” the statement added, without providing further details.

+ Why Switzerland doesn’t recognise Palestine as a state

At this stage, three criminal complaints have been forwarded to the public prosecutor’s office.

Translated from French by DeepL/ts

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch

Popular Stories

News

Attack on Doha: Switzerland denounces violation of Qatari sovereignty

More

Foreign Affairs

Switzerland denounces Israeli strike in Qatar

This content was published on Switzerland slams Israeli Doha attack as 'a clear and unacceptable violation of Qatari sovereignty and territorial integrity'.

Read more: Switzerland denounces Israeli strike in Qatar
Council of States against Switzerland recognising Palestine

More

Senate against Switzerland recognising Palestine

This content was published on The Swiss Senate does not want Switzerland to recognise the state of Palestine at present. On Tuesday it rejected an initiative by canton Geneva calling for this.

Read more: Senate against Switzerland recognising Palestine

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

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.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR