Two young Swiss men face prison after disturbances in Zurich’s District 4 on the night of October 31st and the morning of November 1st. Prosecutors issued summary penalty orders imposing unsuspended sentences of six and four months on November 3rd. The orders are not yet final: both men may seek a court hearing and challenge the penalties.
The men, aged 19 and 21, were arrested near the Langstrasse. According to cantonal police, officers caught them collecting objects at a building site, allegedly for use as projectiles against police. They also had face coverings and quartz-sand gloves, which amplify the force of punches.
The penalty orders cover breach of the peace, violence and threats against officials, criminal damage during a public gathering, trespass and breaches of the face-covering ban. Prosecutors accuse the pair of supporting attacks on people, particularly police officers, and property.
The arrests followed a night of burning barricades, damaged shop windows and attacks on emergency services. Police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber projectiles. Disturbances also broke out in Basel, where demonstrators disrupted public transport.
The mobilisation had a political character. Far-left groups had called for the Zurich and Basel demonstrations. Social-media posts combined complaints about rising rents, health-insurance costs and state surveillance with images of fires and street battles. Appeals to “escalate the struggle” offered a more confrontational message than demands for cheaper housing or limits on police powers.
Unrest elsewhere in Europe appeared to provide inspiration for the violence in Switzerland.
Far-left violence accounts for significant share of extremist violence in Switzerland. The country’s intelligence service recorded 63 violent incidents attributed to the far left in 2025. Three incidents were attributed to the far right. These figures include both attacks on people and damage to property.
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