GENEVA: Swiss police said on Sunday they had prevented a hundred strong far-right gathering due to be addressed by radical Austrian nationalist Martin Sellner, adding he had been arrested and deported.

Saturday afternoon’s meeting was organised by the far-right Junge Tat group, known for its anti-immigration and anti-Islamic views. The group is also a proponent of the far right white nationalist Great Replacement conspiracy theory espoused by Sellner’s identitarian movement.

“To ensure public safety and prevent clashes with people from the opposing side, the speaker at the event was stopped and removed,” the regional police said in the statement, confirming Sellner was the speaker. The police added that they had also been able to “prevent the arrival of political opponents” to avoid any possible confrontation.

Sellner, who advocates mass expulsions of people of foreign origin, had come to Tegerfelden to present his book on the subject. The meeting was scheduled to take place in a hall in the small village of Tegerfel­den, some forty kilometres northwest of Zurich near the German border.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2024