The Swiss branch of PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West) was launched two days after the attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine.
The PEGIDA group’s Facebook page calls on potential supporters to come to a demonstration planned for February 16 at an as yet undisclosed location.
The spokesman for Swiss PEGIDA is Ignaz Bearth, current head of the Swiss Direct Democracy Party, a small party with links to France's Front National party, according to AFP. He is also a former member of the far-right Swiss Nationalist Party.
"Many people have been awakened since the Islamist terrorist attack in France and realize how big the risk is and that Islamism is not just limited to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Nigeria, but has arrived to Europe," Bearth said, as cited by 20 minuten news website. » | Tuesday, January 13, 2015
