Flag of Switzerland
Flag of SwitzerlandiStock

A former leader of the far right Swiss Nationalist Party has been fined by the Swiss public prosecutor for making a speech in 2018 blaming Jews for World War I and II.

The public prosecutor’s office on Wednesday fined Tobias Steiger CHF2,200 ($2,419) along with court and legal fees, reported Swissinfo.ch.

He was also given a suspended fine of CHF12,800 ($14,086) that he will have to pay if he violates Swiss hate speech laws again.

Steiger made the remarks when he was the leader of the Basel area chapter of Partei National Orientierter Schweizer (PNOS). He has also posted Holocaust denial comments on Facebook, reported the Keystone-SDA news agency.

Steiger told the news agency that he is consulting with his lawyer on a possible appeal.

Public hate speech, along with spreading the conspiracy theory that the Jews were responsible for starting and financing World War II, are criminal offences in Switzerland.