Zug, 14.06.2021

Nine expulsion orders, one arrest

According to estimates by the Zug Police, around 3,000 people took part in the officially approved demonstration in Zug The rally participants’ parade first moved from the roundabout at the General-Guisan-Strasse/Allmendstrasse to the railway station, and from there back to the starting point on the Stierenmarktareal (bull market area).

Trychlen (Swiss cowbells) everywhere. These large versions of cowbells make a deafening noise when rung together. This was also the trump card along the entire length of the parade at the event of the ‘Friends of the Constitution’ and their comrades-in-arms on Sunday afternoon (13 June 2021). It led from the roundabout at the General-Guisan-Strasse/Allmendstrasse to the Gubelstrasse/Dammstrasse traffic junction and then back to the Stierenmarktareal.

The Zug police and their security forces remained discreetly in the background during this ‘march for freedom’.

The spearhead of the delegation was two Swiss flags. The people of the "Freunde der Verfassung (Friends of the Constitution)" who followed the Trychlers were a colourfully mixed bunch.

There were followers among them who could be identified as belonging to the more esoteric circle. Babies were carried, but there were also many participants who have had their retirement behind them for some time. Some carried banners with them, while others seemed to show their convictions to the outside world in silence. A larger group showed their minds with the slogan "das Mass-voll" (we’ve had enough) The M is printed oversize on the T-shirt. This group wants "to be able to lead a self-determined life again as responsible people".

Flags and eager signature collectors
There was also a very mixed group of flags at the rally.

Some symbolizing that they are proud to come from or from this canton. All that was missing was the flag throwers (Fahnenschwinger) and you could have thought they were already celebrating the national holiday in June.

Meanwhile, there were a few signature collectors preparing the path for the next referendum. The complaint of the ‘Friends of the Constitution’, the ‘Silent Protest Association’ (Verein Stiller Protest) and the Urkantone (Founder cantons) Action Alliance, as well as their numerous offshoots throughout Switzerland, that has resulted in this signature collection, is the Covid-19 law that the Federal Council pronounced on 19 March 2021.

Pictures of the demonstration:
Pictures: Patrick Hürlimann

On the small stage at the Stierenmarktareal, Marco Häni - one of the exponents of the Friends of the Constitution – later says  that he has prepared three speeches for the voting Sunday in the colours of traffic lights. He shows the red one:

"Yes, we lost the covid-19 bill vote, but we also won."

As many representatives of Swiss parties have been doing before him, Marco Häni has tried to turn a defeat at the ballot box into a victory. No one knew him a year ago. As if he were patting himself on the back, he says with a broad chest: "We won."

It is now necessary to re-adjust the target. Marco Hänni's comment on the vote on the Covid-19 law: "The blackmail worked. The voters decided against freedom and in favour of fear." Furthermore, the Federal Councillor responsible for health care, Alain Berset, is "a liar". Even stronger words could be heard from the public.

A lot of manual work
What is striking at the rally in Zug: many of the participants of the demonstration has written their own pithy expressions on a piece of cardboard. One said: "The worst virus is blind obedience." (Das schlimmste Virus ist der blinde Gehorsam).

Others found the expression "divide and rule, a lazy trick of the powerful" more appropriate. A particularly blatant sign read: "Vaccination genocide"

Does the author of this phrase understand what he has written?

400 people at unauthorised demos in Lucerne
On Saturday, around 400 people gathered in Lucerne for a demonstration against the corona measures and a counter-rally. The police arrested two people there. In contrast to the demonstration in Zug, the two rallies in Lucerne were not approved.

Marco Häni of the Friends of the Constitution makes no secret of his ideas, and said that only living things can swim against the current. He wants to sacrifice himself further In his struggle, and goes even further: "I'd rather go to prison or go underground than give up my freedom."

The stage programme then continued with hard facts and something for the heart and the heartbreak. First, the satirist Andreas Thiel tells about his former life in a quite confused manner, and ends with the expression: "Freedom is threatened like never before."

Christoph Pfluger, a freelance journalist from the canton of Solothurn, who is also a member of the network against the Covid-19 law. also said how he envisions the way forward: "We have to make constructive politics with people from the resistance." Part of the script of such rallies is the singing of the national anthem. All four stanzas are required, but hardly anyone participated in the last one.

Large police deployment
The Zug Police estimated the number of participants in the rally, which was approved by the Zug city council, to be around 3,000 people. The cameras along the Zugerstrasse, Gubelstrasse and the-General-Guisan-Strasse were used for real-time surveillance, according to Judith Aklin, spokeswoman for the Zug Law Enforcement Authorities. This was done to increase safety. According to her, nothing untoward had happened, and an evaluation has therefore not taken place. Furthermore, Judith Aklin explained that the Zug police had to issue orders to leaver the area against nine people who had wanted to disrupt the events. In addition, the Zug police arrested a 36-year-old who had assaulted an employee of the Transport Police.