Swiss minaret ban faces challenge in Strasbourg

A former official at a Geneva mosque has lodged a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg against Switzerland's ban on minarets, Swiss media reported.

Hafid Ouardiri, former spokesman at the mosque, told Television Suisse Romande he submitted an appeal claiming the Swiss popular vote contravened the European Convention on Human Rights, specifically the guarantee of freedom of religion and freedom from discrimination.

The Nov. 29 referendum barring the construction of new minaret towers in Switzerland proved an embarrassment for the Alpine country's neutral government and the justice minister said it could affect Swiss exports and tourism.

Pierre de Preux, a lawyer for Ouardiri, was not immediately available to comment. He said on Tuesday that a letter had been sent to the Swiss federal government and all members of the Council of Europe informing them of Ouardiri's complaint.

Thorbjoern Jagland, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, said last month that the Swiss vote raised concern over "whether fundamental rights of individuals, protected by international treaties, should be subject to popular votes."

"It would be up to the European Court of Human Rights to decide, should an application be submitted to the Court, whether the prohibition of building new minarets is compatible with the Convention," he said in a Nov. 30 statement.

Plaintiffs must exhaust the legal system in their country before bringing a complaint to Strasbourg, but Switzerland's highest court cannot hear cases stemming from a referendum.

Some 57.5 percent of voters supported the national minaret ban in the referendum backed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, which said it opposed the "Islamisation of Switzerland." Its campaign poster showed the Swiss flag covered in missile-like minarets.

The non-EU country of nearly 7 million people is home to about 300,000 Muslims, mainly from Bosnia, Kosovo and Turkey.