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Police arrest 86-year-old graffiti artist for message on Swiss national bank

Graffiti: 'Money for Weapons Kills'
Police arrest 86-year-old graffiti artist for message on Swiss national bank
Posted at 10:38 AM, Apr 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-11 10:38:53-04

GENEVA (AP) — A Swiss pacifist group says an 86-year old woman was briefly detained Tuesday after she spray-painted "Money for Weapons Kills" in German on a wall at Switzerland's national bank, as part of a campaign to strip state financing for arms vendors.

Youniss Mussa, political secretary of "The Group for an Army-free Switzerland," said Louise Schneider was released unharmed after the incident in Bern during a demonstration to launch a petition against state involvement in arms dealings.

If the campaign succeeds to garner at least 100,000 signatures over 18 months, Switzerland would hold a referendum on banning state pension funds and the Swiss National Bank from investing in publicly-traded defense contractors selling arms abroad.

The group says such entities have holdings of 4-12 billion Swiss francs ($4-12 billion) in those companies.