A Swiss court has found a 28-year-old man guilty of inventing a hate crime after the man had falsely claimed to have been attacked but actually carved a swastika into his own face.
The 28-year-old mixed-race man had claimed in January to have been attacked by a group of German-speaking individuals who approached him in the city of Neuchâtel, pushed him to the ground, beat him and carved a swastika into the side of his cheek and made monkey noises toward him in an apparent hate crime.
The man posted a picture of the alleged result of the attack on social media along with his story, prompting police to investigate the alleged assault.
However, according to a report from 20Minutes, the investigators found that there had been no attack on the man, a French national living in Switzerland, and that the man had invented the entire ordeal. The court ruled he had carved the swastika into his own cheek, with investigators noting that the carving had been done before the alleged attack reportedly took place.
The Neuchâtel Public Prosecutor’s Office charged him and he was found guilty of a false criminal report the court imposed a fine of 30 Swiss Francs for 30 days suspended. The man will, however, have to pay 200 Swiss Francs (£172/$206) to the court.
Hate crime hoaxes are not unheard of in Europe, and often make national news or fool mainstream politicians, as was the case last September when a man lied about an alleged anti-LGBT hate crime in Madrid.
The 20-year-old had claimed eight hooded men had attacked him and even carved a homophobic slur into his buttocks. Later, it was revealed the man had made up the story because he had been unfaithful to his partner and that the carving on his buttocks had been a consensual act.
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