LGBTQ activist groups in Switzerland are praising a two-month jail sentence for a controversial commentator who called a journalist a “fat lesbian.”
Listen to the latest episode of CBN’s Quick Start podcast 👇
Alain Bonnet, known as Alain Soral, was sentenced Monday to 60 days behind bars for discrimination and incitement to hatred, and defamation. He will also reportedly be forced to pay fines and legal fees amounting to thousands of Swiss francs, the Associated Press reported.
Soral, 65, who was previously sentenced in France for alleged Holocaust denial, directed his latest contentious comments at Catherine Macherel, a journalist who works for Tribune de Geneve and 24 Heures. He reportedly appeared in videos calling Macherel a “fat lesbian activist for migrants” and “queer,” with the journalist subsequently filing a complaint over the matter.
An article Macherel wrote in 2021 purportedly served as the basis for Soral’s verbal attack.
He was reportedly given a three-month sentence in April by a regional attorney general over the ordeal, which he challenged. That legal volleying landed him with the latest court loss and jail time, France 24 reported.
At least one activist with LOS, a group advocating for lesbian rights, said the legal punishment is an “important moment for justice” and sends a strong sign such treatment won’t be tolerated.
“The conviction of Alain Soral is a strong signal that homophobic hatred cannot be tolerated in our society,” Murial Waeger, who co-directs the group, told the Associated Press.
But Soral attorney Pascal Junod lamented the ruling and pledged to take appeals to the European Court of Human Rights if needed.
Soral is no stranger to legal problems, as he was ordered in September to pay $15,750 to anti-racism groups over a rap video seen by critics as anti-Semitic.
And France 24 noted an appeal was rejected by the European Court of Human Rights over a 2016 conviction he faced for posting a drawing to his website reportedly denying the Holocaust.
Ynetnews reported Soral has made “a number of extreme and antisemitic statements” and has been convicted in France “about 20 times” for various crimes, including “crimes of defamation and incitement to hatred.” He is also credited with founding the now-inactive Anti-Zionist Party.
***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***