Basel police officer dismissed after Hitler salute at World Economic Forum
Keystone-SDA
An employee of the crisis-ridden cantonal police force of Basel City has been dismissed after doing a Hitler salute at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
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The Basel cantonal police have dismissed an employee following serious misconduct at the WEF, spokesman Rooven Brucker confirmed to the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA. The Basler Zeitung had previously reported on the case.
According to the report, the police officer had attracted negative attention at the WEF in January and had shown the Hitler salute. According to Brucker, the allegations include “posing in the manner of Musk” and sexual harassment of colleagues.
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In a letter of information to the corps, which is available to Keystone-SDA, the police management speaks of offences against the dignity of another policewoman, “showing the Hitler salute à la Musk” and sexual harassment of work colleagues.
US President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony took place at the same time as the WEF. In a speech, tech billionaire Elon Musk made a gesture with his arm that was interpreted as a Hitler salute.
Police force in crisis
The Basel City cantonal police force is in crisis. The report published in June 2024 by administrative law expert Markus Schefer revealed a great deal of misery in the police force. Many of the police officers surveyed complained of a “culture of fear”, a lack of trust in leadership and racist and sexist incidents.
As a first measure, Basel’s Director of Security Stephanie Eymann dismissed the police commander Martin Roth.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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