(Bloomberg) -- Swiss lawmakers published an open letter criticizing the Swiss National Bank for having excluded activists from its annual shareholder meeting.

At the April 26 gathering, the central bank denied access to an ambassador of an indigenous tribe and an Argentinian lawyer who wanted to speak out about the harm done to their communities through oil and gas fracking by companies in which the SNB invests. Officials justified the move by saying that only shareholders were permitted to attend.

In an open letter dated Monday, 28 lawmakers from national and cantonal parliaments — predominantly from left and green parties — said the SNB’s move “calls into question its internal democracy.”

In the correspondence shared by the organization BreakFree Suisse, the politicians also sided with the activists in saying that the central bank should shed investments that inflict harm on nature and indigenous communities.

The SNB has consistently said that its investment policy reflects the structure of the economy.

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