A court in Switzerland sentenced a writer and commentator to 60 days in jail for calling a journalist a “fat lesbian” and the decision is being lauded by LGBTQ+ groups.
On Monday, French-Swiss polemicist Alain Bonnet, who goes by Alain Soral, was sentenced by the Lausanne court for the crimes of defamation, discrimination and incitement to hatred after he criticized Catherine Macherel, a journalist for Swiss newspapers Tribune de Geneve and 24 Heures, in a Facebook video two years ago.
“This court decision is an important moment for justice and rights of LGBTQI people in Switzerland,” said Murial Waeger, co-director of a lesbian activist group. “The conviction of Alain Soral is a strong signal that homophobic hatred cannot be tolerated in our society.”
In addition to the prison time, Soral was subsequently ordered to pay legal fees and fines totaling thousands of Swiss francs.