Oskar Freysinger

Swiss politician (born 1960)

Oskar Freysinger
Freysinger at the 2011 Geneva Salon du Livre

Member of the National Council of Switzerland Parliament for Valais
In office 1 December 2003 – 29 November 2015

Personal details
Born	(1960-06-12) 12 June 1960 (age 63) Sierre, Switzerland
Political party	Swiss People's Party
Spouse	Ghislaine Héritier
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Fribourg
Occupation	Author politician teacher
Military service
Rank	Appointé

Oskar Freysinger (born 12 June 1960) is a Swiss author and former politician for the Swiss People's Party, who served as a member of the National Council of Switzerland from 2003 to 2015.^[1]

Background

Freysinger was born in Sierre.^[2] He studied at a German-speaking school in Sion, and later studied German literature and philosophy, and French literature, obtaining a teaching degree in 1985. He studied at the University of Fribourg.^[3] He has taught at the Lycée-Collège de la Planta since 1987.^[3] He is married to Ghislaine Héritier and has three children.^[3]

Political career

From 1997 and 2001, Freysinger was a communal counselor at Savièse for the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland.^[3] He co-founded the Valaisan branch of the Swiss People's Party, which he headed from 1999 to 2002.^[3] He became a member of the cantonal parliament of Valais from 2001 to 2003, and of the National Council of Switzerland from 2003 until 2015.^[2]

His main proposals include the revocation of article 261 bis; hold naturalisation by popular vote; expulsion of foreigners convicted of crimes; and strict regulation of drugs.^[3] He has been considered "a leading anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic figure on the European scene".^[4]

Freysinger played a crucial role in the 2009 Swiss minaret referendum to ban Islamic mosque minarets, and he participated in a counter-jihad conference in Paris in 2010.^[5]^[6]^[7] He has also been on the board of advisors of the counter-jihad organisation Stop Islamization of Nations (SION).^[8]^[9]^[10] He sees Islam as essentially a political religion and therefore subject to secular law.^[11]

Bibliography

Brüchige Welten. Kurzgeschichten, Parabeln, Satiren. Rotten, Visp 2004, ISBN 3-907624-60-2
Outre-pensées. Matze, Sion 2005, ISBN 2-940375-00-3
Die Schachspirale. Roman. Matze, Sion 2006, ISBN 2-940375-02-X
Le nez dans le soleil. Monologue. Matze, Sion 2009, ISBN 978-2-940375-07-3
Under Pseudonym Janus: Canines: antipolar. Xenia éditions, Sion 2010, ISBN 978-2-88892-103-5
Antifa. Petit manuel antifasciste. Tatamis, Paris 2011, ISBN 978-2-917617-14-4
Löwenzahn oder Der alte Mann an der Suone. Weltbild, Olten 2012, ISBN 978-3-03812-442-9
Wabers Schwarm. Weltbild, Olten 2012, ISBN 978-3-03812-470-2
Bergfried. Brinkhaus, Horw 2017, ISBN 978-3-906900-11-7
Die dunkle Seite des Lichts. Brinkhaus, Horw 2018, ISBN 978-3-906900-12-4
Rote Asche. Roman. Brinkhaus, Horw 2018, ISBN 978-3-906900-20-9
Übung allein macht keinen Meister. Brinkhaus, Horw 2019, ISBN 9783906900209
Nachtwehen. Ein Briefroman Brinkhaus, Horw 2019, ISBN 978-3-906900-23-0
Waterman: A Sandy Tale. Wipf and Stock 2022, ISBN 9781666731781
Svalbard. Roman Brinkhaus, Horw 2023, ISBN 978-3-906900-31-5

References

^ "Oskar Freysinger". The Swiss Parliament. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Freysinger Oskar". The Swiss Parliament. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Présentation". ofreysinger.ch. Archived from the original on 12 December 2009.
^ Nilsson, Per-Erik (2015). "'Secular Retaliation': A Case Study of Integralist Populism, Anti-Muslim Discourse, and (Il)liberal Discourse on Secularism in Contemporary France". Politics, Religion & Ideology. 16 (1): 87–106. doi:10.1080/21567689.2015.1012160.
^ Hannus, Martha (2012). Counterjihadrörelsen– en del av den antimuslimska miljön (in Swedish). Expo Research. p. 47.
^ Engelhart, Katie (30 November 2013). "The rise of the far right in Europe". Maclean's.
^ "Freysinger Feted As a Hero At Paris Counterjihad Conference on 18 December 2010". International Civil Liberties Alliance. 24 December 2010.
^ Berntzen, Lars Erik (2019). Liberal Roots of Far Right Activism: The Anti-Islamic Movement in the 21st Century. Routledge. p. 50. ISBN 9781000707960.
^ Othen, Christopher (2018). Soldiers of a Different God: How the Counter-Jihad Movement Created Mayhem, Murder and the Trump Presidency. Amberley. p. 271. ISBN 9781445678009.
^ "Stop Islamization of Nations (SION) Calls on UN to Protect Christians of Syria". Press Release from PR Newswire. Reuters. 20 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
^ Stéphane Kovacs (February 12, 2009). "Oskar Freysinger, le pourfendeur des minarets". Le Figaro (in French). Archived from the original on June 23, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2012.