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Guilty verdict against right-wing politician confirmed

Jean-Luc Addor and attorney leave court
Jean-Luc Addor (left) leave the courthouse at a hearing earlier this year. Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

A right-wing Swiss politician has been found guilty of racial discrimination for comments made on social media.

The highest court on Wednesday confirmed a previous verdict delivered by lower courts against Jean-Luc Addor, parliamentarian from canton Valais for the Swiss People’s Party, three years’ ago.

He was given a suspended fine of CHF18,000 ($19,600) for his remarks that contravened the Swiss racial discrimination law.

The Federal Court said the comments of the defendant on Twitter and Facebook could be read as a call for more violence.

Minutes after a man was shot to death inside a mosque in the eastern town of St Gallen in 2014, Addor wrote “On en redemande!” (“Let’s have more!”) on his social media accounts.

Addor, a former court clerk and judge, had claimed that his comments were a form of irony.

He has a reputation for provocative and ambiguous public statements.

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