A group of police officers across multiple departments in Switzerland have threatened authorities that they will no longer enforce COVID-19 rules on citizens if they oppose the “general opinion of the population.”
“If the measures were to oppose the general opinion of the population, restricting their fundamental rights disproportionately, many police officers will no longer be willing to apply them,” the group said in the letter to the FSFP.
The news agency reported that the letter was praised among lockdown critics, who applauded the association on the Telegram social network by writing: “respect” and “we support you.”
The FSFP stated that the group amounts to a minority within the police federation’s 26,500 members and dismissed any threat of subordination among the officers.
Adrian Gaugler of the Conference of Cantonal Police Commanders threatened officers with sanctions if they are found to be non-compliant with enforcing CCP virus restrictions.
“An agent who refuses to apply a law in force is punishable,” Gaugler said.
Switzerland notably kept schools open during the pandemic last year except from March 16 to May 10, when the country went into lockdown during the first wave. Swiss authorities didn’t consider children to be the primary drivers of the virus and only put in place preventative measures such as hand hygiene, physical distancing, and mask-wearing for kids aged 12 and older.
