The March for Life in Switzerland Is Not Allowed to March

Source: FSSPX News

Initially scheduled for March 10, 2019, the March for Life is now forbidden in the canton of Zurich, in northern Switzerland. The city’s security service announced on December 17, 2018 that the event cannot be held “for security reasons”.

The March was supposed to go through the city center beginning in the Münsterhof Square. The organizers were informed in the beginning of October 2018, however, that the event had to be held in a “less central” location. The city services suggested the Turbinenplatz Square on the city outskirts.

On October 22, the organizers filed another request and accepted to hold the protest in this new location, on the condition that the participants could “march” in this fairly empty neighborhood. The city services rejected this request as well mid-November. The organization therefore filed an appeal with the city council of Zurich, invoking the freedom of reunion and expression guaranteed by the Constitution, as well as freedom of religion and conscience. The appeal was rejected.

The organization committee has called this decision “incomprehensible”, since the March already took place from 2010 to 2015 and dozens of other protests are authorized in this same city every year. “Something that was possible for many years should not be forbidden now,” deplored Daniel Regli, president of the organization committee, adding that the public security of Zurich has never been compromised by the Marches for Life. 

In the summer of 2018, during the March for Life in Bern, there were no incidents whatsoever, despite the threats against the organizers.