The city of Biel/Bienne is investigating a Libyan man who came to Switzerland as an asylum seeker nearly 20 years ago for giving sermons at a mosque in which he called for non-Muslims to be destroyed.
His alleged hate speech was reported by Swiss media including broadcaster SRF and the Tages-Anzeiger on Wednesday, and has caused particular consternation given they also revealed the unemployed man has been living on Swiss social welfare for years, receiving nearly 600,000 francs over the last 13 years.
The 64-year-old is an occasional volunteer preacher at the Ar’Rahman mosque in Biel/Bienne, said the paper. In a sermon recorded by SRF and attributed to the Libyan, he asked Allah to “destroy the enemies of our religion, destroy the Jews, the Christians, the Hindus, the Russians and the Shiites”.
The preacher came to Switzerland as a refugee in 1998 and was in 2001 granted asylum, claiming he was persecuted by the regime of Colonel Gadaffi. He now has a C permit granting permanent residence.
According to the Tages Anzeiger he has hardly worked during his time in Switzerland and has received nearly 600,000 francs in benefits over the past 13 years. [The Local] Read more
