Swiss Upper House rejects foreign fund ban on mosques

Photo: Mosque of the Olten Turkish cultural association at Wangen bei Olten. By Nadf/Public Domain

The Upper House of Switzerland  rejected a bill prohibiting foreign funding to mosques affiliated with the Swiss Turkish Religious Foundation, reported The Muslim News

The motion had been put forward by Lorenzo Quadri, a senator for the right-wing Ticino League party in Switzerland’s Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.

With the motion, Quadri had targeted some 35 mosques and Islamic centres in Switzerland reportedly funded by the Turkish government.

Following discussions, the Upper House rejected the bill with 29 “No” votes against seven “Yes” votes, with four abstentions, which had narrowly passed through the lower house Council of States.

The Upper House said it was unfair to impose any restrictions without granting rights to Muslims.

The proposal, modelled on rules already in place in Austria, would also have seen imams required to preach in a Swiss national language while compelling Islamic centres to disclose the origin of any funding.

But Switzerland’s seven-member Federal Council had said the motion was discriminatory and rejected the comparison with Austria saying rules in that country came in the context of bolstered official recognition for Austria’s Muslims.

The Swiss executive noted, however, that no Swiss canton had officially recognised Islam and it was unfair to impose rules without offering rights. Green senator Robert Cramer also noted the motion could impinge on religious freedoms and the right to free assembly.