GENEVA – Police in Switzerland have handed a Muslim man a £178 fine forsaying “Allahu Akbar” in public because passersby could have mistaken himfor a terrorist.
The man, identified in Swiss media as Orhan E., went public with hisaccount this week and explained he had used the phrase after spotting afriend while walking through Schaffhausen, northern Switzerland, in Maylast year.
Orhan told local daily Schaffhauser Nachrichten he thought nothing of thephrase, which he said is used by Muslims “almost every second sentence”.
However, as he conversed with his friend “he was approached by an off-dutypolice officer” who said his “loud and clear” use of the expression couldhave caused people to fear an imminent terror attack, The Local reports.
“I didn’t want any problems and I spent two minutes trying to explain why Ihad said what I did,” Orhan said.
Orhan added he was “manhandled” by officers before being issued with a 150Swiss francs (£120) fine for causing a public nuisance, plus a 60 franc(£58) processing free.
The town’s security chief, Romeo Bettini, insists Orhan had been targetedbecause he shouted the phrase – a claim the young man denies.
In 1980, Muslims only accounted for 1 percent of the total population inSwitzerland. However, since then the percentage of the Swiss populationthat is Islamic has continued to grow: it was 5 percent in 2013, and 6.1percent in 2016.