A writer and commentator in Switzerland was sentenced to 60 days in jail for calling a journalist a “fat lesbian.”
On Monday, the sentence was handed down to French-Swiss Polemicist Alain Bonnet, who goes by Alain Soral, in Lausanne court.
Soral was found to have committed defamation, discrimination, and incitement to hatred for criticizing Catherine Macherel, a journalist in the Swiss media, in a Facebook video two years ago.
Along with the prison time, Soral was ordered to pay legal fees and fines in the thousands of Swiss francs.
In the video published on social media, Soral called Macherel a “fat lesbian” while criticizing her for being a “queer activist” and “unhinged,” according to the New York Post.
The comments from Soral sparked outrage amongst the LGBTQ community, with many calling his sentencing a monumental moment.
“This court decision is an important moment for justice and rights of LGBTQI people in Switzerland,” Murial Waeger, co-director of a lesbian activist group, shared with the Post. “The conviction of Alain Soral is a strong signal that homophobic hatred cannot be tolerated in our society.”
In an email to The Associated Press, Soral’s lawyer, Pascal Junod, said that the conviction was a “crime of opinion” and that the case meant to see if a person had “sinned against the dogmas of single thought.”
Junod also noted that his client will appeal to the Swiss federal court and the European Court of Human Rights “if necessary.”
A law was passed in 2020 by Swiss voters, making it illegal to discriminate against someone based on their sexual orientation.
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