Switzerland based Tibetan activist Wangpo Tethong has filed a complaint against the Berne City Council and the coordinator of police forces for violating the constitutional right of freedom of expression during the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Switzerland.
During Xi’s official visit to Switzerland, Mr. Tethong, along with a large number of Tibetan protesters were arrested in Berne for protesting against China’s repressive policies in Tibet.
Tethong has released a press release on his complaint against the Swiss authorities, in which he says, “The authorities in Berne have violated the law and I feel, it is my duty as a citizen to protest against acts by the police that don’t conform with Swiss law. I also strongly feel that time has now come to push back intensifying attempts by Chinese government to infuse free democratic societies with their authoritarian concepts of governance.”
He tells VOA that the police had conducted an interrogation on February 28, and accepted his complaint and promised to have it forwarded to the district attorney in Berne. Tethong further adds that during Xi’s visit, the Chinese group was given full freedom of expression and assembly, while the Tibetan group was denied the same right, and that made him question the security arrangement during Xi’s visit.