According to RTS, the secretary general of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC), Martin Baltisser and his substitute Silvia Bar, were found guilty of racism at Bern’s regional tribunal on 30 April 2015.
The affair started when posters carrying the slogan: “Kosovars stab Swiss!” in German were posted as part of a campaign to stop mass immigration into Switzerland. Le Matin reported that the accused had requested that the charges against them be discharged, their lawyer claiming the text targeted foreign criminals and not a group of people. Their lawyer added that the slogan, which was posted in 2011, referred to an actual event that occurred in the resort of Interlaken and left a UDC candidate badly hurt from a knife attack involving a Kosovar.
According to swissinfo.ch, the case against the defendants pointed out that the campaign poster stayed on the UDC and Initiative to stop mass immigration websites until the end of 2013.
Le Matin also reported that Martin Baltisser, one of the accused, claimed he had never expressed or even had racist thoughts. Bern’s regional tribunal thought otherwise.
