Counter-terrorism: Coordinated operations in Switzerland and France
Bern, 07.11.2017 - As part of criminal proceedings being conducted by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland against two suspects, several buildings were searched today in the can-tons of Neuchatel and Vaud and one of the two suspects has been arrested. At the same time in proceedings being conducted in France, several buildings were also searched and arrests made. Among those arrested in France was the second suspect in the Swiss proceedings. The persons arrested in Switzerland and in France had been in contact with each other.
Since June 2016, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has been conducting a criminal investigation into a 27-year-old man with Swiss nationality. The investigation was more recently extended to include a 23-year-old Colombian woman. This investigation is based on suspicion of a violation of Art. 2 of the Federal Act on the Proscription of the Groups ‘Al-Qaeda’ and ‘Islamic state’ and Associated Organisations (SR 122), and suspicion of support for and/or participation in a criminal organisation (Art. 260ter Swiss Criminal Code (SCC)). The OAG opened criminal proceedings after the public prosecutor's office in the Canton of Vaud filed a criminal complaint.
Today, as part of the OAG’s investigation and with support from fedpol and the cantonal police in Neuchatel and Vaud, several buildings were searched in the two cantons. In addition, the Colombian woman who is a suspect in the Swiss proceedings was arrested. The OAG will apply to the competent court for this suspect to be remanded in pre-trial detention. Until the court has reached a definitive decision, she will remain in detention.
At the same time in France, as part of separate criminal proceedings being conducted by the French authorities, several buildings were also searched and persons were arrested. The second suspect in the proceedings being conducted by the OAG, the man with Swiss nationality, was also arrested in France by the French authorities. As the persons arrested in connection with the Swiss and the French proceedings were in contact with each other, the operations in the two countries were carried out in parallel and with close coordination. The OAG’s current investigations aim to clarify the role and intentions of the suspects in the OAG’s case in relation to the persons arrested in France. For tactical reasons, no further information can be provided on the ongoing criminal investigations. The OAG wishes to stress that the presumption of innocence applies to all the persons concerned.
The operations carried out simultaneously in Switzerland and in France each took place in the presence of a representative from the other country and were made possible by setting up a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) specifically for this purpose. This form of cooperation is based on the Second Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.
The OAG would like to thank the French authorities, the police forces and prosecutors’ offices of the cantons of Neuchatel and Vaud, fedpol and the Federal Intelligence Service for their valuable assistance with this matter.
Any questions related to the criminal proceedings being conducted in France must be addressed to the French authorities.
Address for enquiries
André Marty, Head of Information at the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland; +41 58 464 32 40; info@ba.admin.ch
Publisher
Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland
http://www.ba.admin.ch/
