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Swiss liberals are considering a new referendum to overturn the ban on building new minarets in the country, Sunday papers reported. |
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Swiss liberals are considering a new referendum to overturn the ban on building new minarets in the country, Sunday papers reported. Club Helvetique, a group of over 20 Swiss intellectuals, will draw up an action plan to overturn the ban, which has drawn widespread criticism abroad and prompted hundreds of people to take to the streets this weekend in Zurich, Basel and Berne. "A new initiative is the most democratic way of achieving this," constitutional lawyer Joerg Mueller told Sonntag. Two complaints questioning the legality of ban had already been handed to Switzerland's Federal Court, Sonntag said. The United Nations last week denounced Switzerland's constitutional ban on building minarets as deeply divisive, clearly discriminatory and violates the the country's obligations under international law. Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said the Iranian government had summoned the Swiss ambassador to explain the situation. Switzerland, a country of 7.7 million, is home to more than 300,000 Muslims, mainly from Bosnia, Kosovo and Turkey, but has just four minarets. /106 |
