Surprising turnaround in the Yan Balistoy discrimination case at Neumarkt – St. Galler Tagblatt

Actor Balistoy was not discriminated against “under any premise” – now the public prosecutor’s office is speaking

The discrimination lawsuit brought by Jewish actor Yan Balistoy against Theater Neumarkt failed in the first instance. The public prosecutor does not want to pursue the case any further. New details are also known.

The fall began with a bang, and it ends with a bang. For now. The Zurich public prosecutor’s office judges that the Jewish actor Yan Balistoy was not discriminated against “under any premise.” She is not pursuing the case further and will not open an investigation because the requirements are missing. The non-acceptance order is available to this newspaper.

Everything indicates that the working relationship between the actor and musician Yan Balistoy and the theater was seriously disturbed.

Image: zvg

Last June, the Swiss-Israeli Yan Balistoy filed a criminal complaint against those responsible at the Neumarkt Theater in Zurich, accusing his former employer of “discrimination and incitement to hatred.” He has filed a complaint with the higher court against the current order of the law enforcement authority, which means it is not legally valid.

Is the authority ignoring an anti-Semitic crime?

Confronted with the authority’s verdict, Balistoy’s advisor, Sascha Wigdorovits, expressed dissatisfaction when asked. The public prosecutor did not want to accept the complaint “with extremely contradictory and, in our opinion, very inconsistent reasons.” Elsewhere he said that the public prosecutor’s office apparently had no interest in prosecuting the case because it was a suspected anti-Semitic crime.

The chairman of the board of directors of the Neumarkt Theater, Thomas Busin, co-accused of Balistoy, is relieved: “We are happy about the factual and clear assessment. But the reputation-damaging allegations made public have not only damaged our company’s reputation, but have also cast doubt on our integrity as an employer and ourselves as people.”

Separate employment was not racist

Balistoy’s lawsuit is based on a Lebanese law that stipulates that Israelis and Lebanese are not allowed to appear on the same stage together. It is said to have been used when the Jewish actor was hired in 2021 in the ensemble, which also includes the Lebanese actress Bou Nassar. In order to fulfill its duty of care for both, the theater resorted to having the actors perform separately and not in the same play. Both parties agreed to the proposal.

This apparently went well until the theater decided to let the three-year contract with Balistoy expire. He subsequently accused the theater of being anti-Semitic with its practice of separate employment. His allegations received widespread support and solidarity far beyond the cultural scene.

The professional association of the performing arts scene in Switzerland had initiated a legal protection case and appointed a lawyer. Balistoy wrote an open letter to the Jewish community in Zurich and he is personally contacting Mayor Corinne Mauch. The politician commissioned a study into the working atmosphere at the municipal theater. This spring, the investigation concluded that there were no discriminatory practices in the building. Nevertheless, the theater came under political pressure.

Yann Balistoy as assistant director in the commercial film with Roger Federer.

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Called in sick at the theater, then went to film with Roger Federer

In its order, the public prosecutor’s office goes into detail about the Lebanese boycott law that is said to have been applied at Neumarkt. The theater is said to have neither adhered to a racist law, nor did it spread this law by discriminating against Balistoy. “On the contrary, it was precisely the people in charge of the Neumarkt who wanted the Israeli Jew Balistoy to be part of their ensemble, despite Bou Nassar’s concerns.” The public prosecutor’s office criticizes that the use of separate employment as a “solution” was clumsy, but in no way relevant to criminal law.

The letter also emphasizes: There are no indications of terminating the contract with Balistoy for religious reasons. In contrast, there are signs of a seriously disturbed working relationship. The actor is said to have “repeatedly failed to adhere to the internal absence regulations,” which led to numerous warnings.

This becomes clear in the case of Switzerland Tourism’s advertising film with Roger Federer, which was filmed in Zurich main station. Balistoy played the role of assistant director, he appears in the first minutes of the film. To do this, he called in sick at short notice and is said to have been involved in filming the same day instead of the theater rehearsal. It is now clear that when Balistoy sought publicity with the accusation of discrimination against the theater, the working relationship between him and the theater had long since been massively disrupted.