9 October 2010
Around 150 anti-minaret protests have gathered in Langenthal to denounce the recent decision to allow the construction of a minaret for the local Islamic center. Members of the far-right Swiss Nationalist Party (PNOS) demanded that the November 2009 ban on minarets be respected, however local officials have said that the original decision to allow the minaret was made before the national referendum took place. As part of the demonstration, a number of paper-maché minarets were symbolically “swept off” of the Swiss flag, while four individuals fully clad in black carried signs denouncing the burqa.