Racist Native-Swiss Man Criminally Convicted For Insulting Reza Ganjavi

It's rare for foreigners to prevail over natives in Switzerland because of the prevalence of bias and "systemic racism" as the UN and Swiss Federal Anti-Racism Commission calls it.

By Reza Ganjavi

There was a news story where a taxi driver insulted a police officer by calling him an asshole, and he got a 1000 Swiss Franc penalty (more than a $1000). 

Once on the Swiss Anti-EMF-Pollution group which I run, some guy got into a disagreement with me over a point. I always stay calm and argue my points rationally and calmly. I extend respect and decency, and I expect basic respect and decency. 

But he crossed the line. He sent me an abusive, harassing message in which he insulted me and made a racist slur. 

I reported him to the Prosecutor and demanded prosecution (I have learned the lesson: if you don't demand prosecution, and they think you don't know your rights, and you're a foreigner against a native, you almost have no chance - with exception. There are some fair law enforcement and justice authorities but based on reports of so many people of foreign origin, and my own experience, suddenly rights, law, decency, truth, evidence, facts, go out the window when bias, conscious or unconscious blinds the authority - and tribal conditioning kicks in to protect his or her tribe-mate. "With Exception" is a key phrase, because I am NOT saying anything about everyone. But I believe bias is the norm, with exception. 

This strong degree of racism in Switzerland is not unknown. The United Nations had a dismal report not long ago, and the Swiss Federal Anti-Racism Commission itself refers to the problem of "Systemic Racism".

But unfortunately for any racist authorities, I am a man of law and grew up in a family of judges, lawyers, prosecutors, legal scholars, law professors (and my father had all those roles in his stellar career, and more). I respect everyone's rights, but also stand up fiercely for my rights.

In this case I laid out the case very clearly, and said from the very beginning that I am determined to have this person convicted, and if you don't, I will appeal it all the way. 

The Chief Prosecutor that the case was assigned to was one of those "Exceptions" mentioned above: Dr. Maurus Eckert. Maurus I assume is a Rhaeto-Romance name. Romansh is a national language of Switzerland (along with German, French, Italian) and is spoken in a small section of the country. It's the most beautiful of Swiss languages in my opinion. 

I spoke with Dr. Eckert in the beginning of the process, before I filed a complaint, and I found him to be very competent, intelligent, and decent. 

He assigned the case to Prosecutor Ms. Ana Marija Veselic whose name sounds Croatian. There's a large presence of Slavic speaking persons in Switzerland and they add much beauty and culture to the country.  She did a great job of administrating justice and penalizing the defendant. 

I called the Prosecutor and the Police a few times to follow up. The process took 7 months which was pretty good given it was during the Covid-19 crisis (https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html) 

English translation of the penalty order against the defendant who insulted me with racist remarks: 

Here's a handwritten note I sent to the Prosecutor, requesting a copy of the defendant's police interrogation:

Here's the criminal conviction of the defendant who insulted me and uttered racist remark. I erased his name for privacy sake:

Here's the request of the Chief Prosecutor to the Cantonal Police to interrogate the defendant who insulted me and uttered racist remark. I erased his name for privacy sake: