Demonstrators in Swiss cities join Global Climate Strike

Thousands of people in several Swiss cities joined a Global Climate Strike day of protest, just weeks before the COP26 environmental summit.

They responded to an international appeal from the “Fridays for Future” movement, whose activities had been dampened over the last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Eight Swiss cities, including Zurich and Geneva, saw demonstrations, with protestors bearing banners with such slogans as: “The Earth is boiling with rage”, “Climate killer # 1 – meat and milk”, “Stop exploitation” and “The planet is burning”.

Politicians will gather in Glasgow, Scotland, in November to hammer out further measures to slow down global warming and environmental degradation.

The Swiss demonstrations, which were mirrored in dozens of other countries, have been allowed by the authorities. But other protests in recent years have been deemed unlawful.

Court cases

This includes the activities of the environmental group Extinction Rebellion in the western Swiss city of Lausanne. Swiss courts have started dealing with a long series of trials of 200 XR activists for acts of civil disobedience in 2019 and 2020.

The first XR activist appeared before a police court in Lausanne on Friday charged with several public order offences.

Some 80 people came to support the 30-year-old accused, including Nobel Prize winner Jacques Dubochet.

The activist’s lawyer has pleaded for acquittal on the basis of the freedom to demonstrate peacefully.

Swiss public broadcaster RTS says the verdict will be delivered on Wednesday.