Combating Terrorism: Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland files indictment with the Federal Criminal Court
Bern, 25.10.2019 - The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) filed an indictment with the Federal Criminal Court against a Swiss-Italian dual citizen domiciled in Winterthur and a Swiss-Macedonian dual citizen domiciled in Frauenfeld. The two are primarily accused of supporting, resp. participating in the criminal organization “Islamic State (IS)”. According to the indictment, the principal accused supported IS in Syria and recruited several individuals for IS. The second accused is charged with having attempted to travel to IS territory in order to join the organization, and also with the recruitment of one individual for IS.
Principal accused: participation in IS and supporting and recruiting for IS
The Swiss-Italian dual citizen domiciled in Winterthur is charged with supporting and participating in the criminal organization IS (art. 260ter no 1 SCC) as well as violating the ban on representations of acts of violence (art. 135 para. 1 and 1bis SCC). He is accused of having travelled to Syria, to the area controlled by IS, where he joined the combat unit Jaish Al Muhajirin-Wal-Ansar, belonging to IS. The OAG claims to have proof that the accused, upon returning to Switzerland, capitalized on his reputation as a returnee to motivate several individuals to join IS.
To achieve his goal of recruiting others for IS, the Swiss-Italian dual citizen acted as a Salafist guiding figure in Switzerland and kept in contact with several convicted IS recruiters from Europe.
The OAG furthermore accuses the defendant of having supported IS as well as related organizations by disseminating propaganda material and of having possessed relevant representations of acts of violence.
The second accused also recruited for IS, according to the indictment
The Swiss-Macedonian dual citizen domiciled in Frauenfeld is mainly charged with supporting, resp. participating in the criminal organization IS (art. 260ter no 1 SCC) as well as with the multiple violation of the ban on representations of acts of violence (art. 135 para. 1 and 1bis SCC). He is accused of having attempted to travel to Syria via Macedonia with the aim of joining IS in Syria. In Macedonia, he was prevented from travelling on by local police authorities. The OAG claims to have proof that he, too, recruited one person for IS, while ultimately aiming at having the person he recruited travel to IS territory in Syria or Iraq and join IS there. Furthermore, the OAG accuses the defendant of having supported the criminal organization IS as well as related organizations by disseminating relevant propaganda material on multiple occasions and of having possessed relevant representations of acts of violence.
The criminal proceedings
The criminal proceedings by the OAG were opened in February 2015 against the Swiss-Italian dual citizen and against unknown and later extended to include the Swiss-Macedonian dual citizen.
As usual, the OAG will announce sentence proposals during the main trial before the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. With the filing of the indictment, the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona is henceforth in charge of further informing the media. Until final conviction, the presumption of innocence applies.
The OAG is unable to add to the information provided in the press release at present and is not giving any interviews on this matter.
Address for enquiries
Communication Service of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, info@ba.admin.ch
Publisher
Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland
http://www.ba.admin.ch/
