Swiss shooting: organiser of rave defends security plan

Organiser of a rave party in Aarau defends security plan Keystone-SDA

The organiser of the rave party in Aarau, northern Switzerland, where one person was fatally shot and five people injured has defended the security plan for the venue in an interview.

Olivier Grein, head of Urban Agency Events, told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung he now believes politicians are under pressure to act.

“An armed attack on a large crowd can only be prevented with a massive police presence,” Grein said in Tuesday’s newspaper. “But if such an attack were to come from outside, I wouldn’t know what we could do,” he said.

He agreed that it was right for event organisers not to have armed security personnel. The organiser is responsible for security on the site itself, while the police are responsible for the surrounding area, he said.

For him, the crucial factor now is how politicians respond. This applies to events ranging from amateur football tournaments to stadium concerts. “Today, I have the feeling that data protection and privacy are given greater priority than preventing crime,” criticised Grein. He believes action is needed in this regard.

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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.