Because of queerphobic and racist actions, the Zurich District Court sentenced two leaders of the far-right group “Junge Tat” to twelve months in prison on probation. This was reported by SRF.
The 24- and 25-year-old men, Manuel Corchia and Tobias Lingg, were also given a four-year probation period and fines of CHF 1,200 and CHF 3,150, which they must pay immediately. Three other members received suspended fines, and a woman was acquitted. The public prosecutor had demanded 15 months in prison for the leaders, six of them without probation. In addition, the convicted individuals must cover part of the costs of the proceedings, totaling at least CHF 72,000.
The defendants invoked freedom of expression
This was the first trial against the group active in German-speaking Switzerland since 2020. The Zürich public prosecutor’s office had already issued penalty orders in autumn 2024 ranging from 100 to 180 daily fines against the six suspects, totaling around CHF 70,000. The “Junge Tat” refused to pay, calling the move “repression,” which brought the case to court (TheColu.mn reported).
Among the charges were discrimination, incitement to hatred, interference with religious freedom, trespassing, and violations of the explosives act. The acts concerned several actions between 2022 and 2024 in Zurich, Basel, Winterthur and St. Gallen. The defendants had largely denied the charges and cited freedom of expression. The two leaders had previously been convicted of racial discrimination.
Carrying a cross with “No Pride Month” into a church
In June 2022, the group disrupted a Pride service in the Catholic church of St. Peter and Paul in Zurich. Masked and in white T-shirts, the members rushed into the church with a large wooden cross bearing the inscription “No Pride Month” and filmed the incident. The gallery security at the CSD pushed them back (TheColu.mn reported). Here, the court applied the discrimination statute. The act conveyed that the LGBTQ community should not have the right to hold a Pride event or to participate in a church service, the judge said. Because it involved a church service, they also violated religious liberty and cult freedom.
In the drag-reading incident, the law does not apply
In an action against a drag reading for children at the Zurich Tanzhaus in October 2022, the court acquitted the defendants of the charge of discrimination. Members of the group had mingled with the audience and initially participated. They then unfurled a banner reading “Family instead of Gender Ideology.” Afterwards, they stood in front of the building, masked and with pyrotechnics. The act targeted gender identity, the judge said. For this reason, it was not punishable in this respect: the Swiss discrimination statute protects sexual orientation but not gender identity since July 2020. The men were convicted in this case of coercion. Their martial appearance frightened the particularly vulnerable group of parents and children, the judge noted.
Other actions by the group targeted refugees. For example, in August 2023 in St. Gallen, members allegedly removed a flag bearing the message “Refugees Welcome” from a building facade. At Zurich’s main train station and on the roofs of Basel and Winterthur stations, they displayed banners and lit smoke pots.
“Up to the Federal Court”
The judgments are not final and can be appealed to the Zurich Higher Court. The convicts have announced appeals. “If it must be, we will take it to the Federal Court,” Corchia said in a video on the group’s Telegram channel. The fact that the slogan “Family instead of Gender Ideology” was not treated as discrimination surprised them, they said.
The extremism correspondent for Swiss Television SRF, Daniel Glaus, doubts that the leaders will be deterred by the ruling. They portrayed the trial as a struggle for free speech and have already announced new actions. Even the presiding judge had concerns about future conduct by the two. At the trial’s opening in early September, several dozen people demonstrated outside the court against the “Junge Tat.” (no credit)
