(Swiss Info) Opponents of new Swiss laws to combat terrorism have gathered enough signatures to challenge the controversial legislation by referendum. They argue that the law violates civil liberties, particularly those of children. The “No to Preventative Punishment” committee handed in 142,800 […]
(Swiss Info) The government says there are sufficient measures in place to combat terrorism and violent extremism in Switzerland. However, it pledged to implement recommendations to boost cooperation between national and cantonal units and to improve communication. The government also plans to draft […]
(Swiss Info) Next week the federal prosecutor’s office will assume responsibility for criminal proceedings of two men arrested in Switzerland over alleged ties to the Vienna terrorist attacker. The transfer of the case from Canton Zurich to the federal level was confirmed […]
(Swiss Info) Two men being held in connection with a recent terror attack in Vienna were already under criminal investigation in Switzerland, it has emerged. The duo, aged 18 and 24, were arrested in the Swiss city of Winterthur on Tuesday — […]
(Swiss Info) The Zurich cantonal police have arrested two men over suspected ties to the deadly attacks in Vienna that took place on Monday evening. The arrests came after both federal and cantonal authorities announced they were investigating possible Swiss ties to […]
(Swiss Info) A Swiss court has handed down fines and suspended prison sentences to two board members of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS) for jihadist propaganda following a retrial. The Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona gave Islamic council president Nicolas […]
(Swiss Info) Terrorist attacks inspired by the Islamic State group remain likely in Europe, with Switzerland not invulnerable to such threats, says the Federal Intelligence Service. “In Switzerland, the terrorist threat is heightened, but while it is among the countries viewed as […]
(Swiss Info) An Iraqi citizen who has been living in Switzerland on and off for 22 years has been found guilty of setting up a network of terror sympathisers and inciting his wife to commit a suicide attack in Lebanon. The Federal […]
(Swiss Info) A referendum attempt has been launched against legislation recently approved by parliament to prevent extremist violence. Those behind the launch of the referendum on Wednesday include the youth wings of the leftwing Greens, Liberal Greens and Social Democrats, as well […]
(Swiss Info) Three men and one woman have been arrested in canton Fribourg as part of two criminal investigations into terrorism activities, Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has announced. “The two criminal investigations relate to suspicions of the violation of […]
(Swiss Info) The Swiss parliament has tightened measures aimed at preventing extremist violence and organised crime as part of increased international cooperation. The Senate on Wednesday followed the House of Representatives in approving a legal reform, which includes a ban on the […]
(Swiss Info) A man suspected of fatally stabbing a random man in western Switzerland on Saturday has confessed, saying that he acted in the name of jihadism, according to Swiss public radio, RTS. He had been released from prison in July, having […]
(Swiss Info) The Swiss government’s draft anti-terrorism law, which is being discussed in parliament, violates international human rights standards, and would set a dangerous precedent for the suppression of political dissent worldwide, UN human rights experts have warned. On Friday, Swiss United […]
(Swiss Info) The Swiss authorities have been asked to take action against social media commentary that Turkey perceives as defamatory or sympathetic to terrorist groups. Examples of objectionable content could include a critical article about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or an […]
(Swiss Info) A trial is underway at the Federal Criminal Court of two Islamists suspected of membership in a criminal organisation and recruiting followers to travel to conflict regions in Syria. One of the defendants is accused of fighting for a militant […]
(Swiss Info) The Swiss justice authorities have filed an indictment against two suspects for terror offences. The charges include travelling to a Middle East conflict zone controlled by the Islamic State organisation, which is banned in Switzerland. The two suspects, a Swiss […]
(Swiss Info) The Federal Criminal Court has reduced a sentence for a man who spread propaganda from the banned Islamic State (IS) group from a suspended prison sentence to a CHF2,500 ($2,635) fine. The 35-year-old had originally been handed a 180-day suspended […]
(Swiss Info) The House of Representatives has approved new anti-terrorism legislation aimed at preventing extremist violence. But it didn’t approve preventive detention of potential terror offenders. The Swiss government has proposed new legislation aimed at preventing extremist violence and forcing people deemed […]
(Swiss Info) Parliament has recommended that voters reject a popular initiative calling for a nationwide ban on face-covering headgear. Both chambers agree that it should be left to cantons to decide on the matter. On Wednesday the House of Representatives voted to […]
(Swiss Info) The justice authorities have dropped a legal inquiry against an imam in central Switzerland suspected of making controversial statements about wife-beating. The cantonal prosecutor’s office in Lucerne announced that it could not find evidence supporting allegations raised by the SonntagsZeitung […]
(Swiss Info) Nora Illi, a controversial public figure who co-founded the Swiss Central Islamic Council (SCIS), died on Monday at the age of 35, after a long illness. Perhaps Switzerland’s most widely publicised convert to Islam, Illi often attracted attention for her […]
(Swiss Info) Three people have been arrested in connection with a suspected arson attack at the Swiss-run One Happy Family community centre on the Greek island of Lesbos, according to Greek media reports. The centre, which is used as a meeting place […]
(Swiss Info) Switzerland’s Supreme Court has overturned the acquittal of two Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS) leaders accused of terrorist propaganda. Islamic council president Nicolas Blancho and its spokesman [Qaasim] Illi were accused of broadcasting propaganda videos in support of the […]
(Swiss Info) The United States offered several times to repatriate three Swiss jihadists detained in Syria, an offer that Switzerland refused, the Le Temps newspaper has said. The original proposal dated back to 2018, Le Temps said on Thursday. The Swiss Federal Department […]
(Swiss Info) Switzerland’s largest mosque, which has been embroiled in various controversies, is to come under Swiss management. “It is time to hand over the mosque in Geneva to a Swiss executive board, which is representative, with an elected president board: a […]
(Swiss Info) The Swiss authorities have revoked the citizenship of a French-Swiss [woman] for her suspected links to the Islamic State militant group. In an information published in the Federal Gazette on December 31, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said the […]
(Swiss Info) A French-Tunisian citizen who used to work as a security guard at Geneva’s main mosque has been banned from Switzerland for ten years due to his alleged links to religious fundamentalists, a Swiss court ruled on Friday, confirming an earlier […]
(Swiss Info) Three Swiss nationals who fought for Islamic State and are currently in custody in northern Syria deplore the harsh conditions in Kurdish prisons and want the Swiss government to repatriate them. The jihadists, who all come from the French-speaking part […]
(Swiss Info) Swiss parliamentarians have supported a plan to oblige people to show their faces during identity checks and visits to social security authorities. The proposal is aimed at countering an outright ban on wearing a burka in public. The House of Representatives on […]
(Swiss Info) A Swiss woman who accused the Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan of rape in 2018 has now launched a new legal case against him, this time for slander. The case centres around Ramadan’s book “Devoir de verité” (“The Responsibility of Truth”), […]
(Swiss Info) Switzerland-based Muslim preacher Abu Ramadan is under investigation for allegedly committing welfare fraud. He has also been investigated over hate speech. The public prosecutor in Bern opened a criminal investigation in early 2019 after the 66-year-old preacher was denounced by […]
(Swiss Info) A decade ago, a majority of Swiss voters backed a people’s initiative banning the building of minarets in the country. What has changed since? The people’s initiative was accepted by 57.5% of Swiss voters, even though most politicians, church leaders […]
(Swiss Info) A Geneva court has amended a controversial local secularism law. A ban on wearing or showing religious symbols will still apply to government ministers and officials in contact with the public but not to locally elected politicians. In February, an […]
(Swiss Info) A man is in deportation custody following his arrest at the federal asylum centre in Kreuzlingen in northern Switzerland. He was initially suspected of being a member of a terrorist organization. Having consulted with the Office of the Attorney General […]
(Swiss Info) Around 130 imams are active in Switzerland, mostly Sunnis, and many of whom receive their religious training abroad in the Balkans, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, an in-depth university study has reported. Research by the Swiss Centre for Islam and […]
(Swiss Info) A large-scale operation across three Swiss regions on Tuesday morning has led to the house searches of 11 people with suspected links to Islamist terrorist groups. The police raids were launched in the cantons of Zurich, Bern, and Schaffhausen, and involved […]
(Swiss Info) Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has filed an indictment with the Federal Criminal Court against two men accused of supporting and participating in the terror organisation “Islamic State” (IS). According to the indictment, the principal accused, a Swiss-Italian dual citizen domiciled […]
(Swiss Info) Moves are underway to strip a Geneva-based woman suspected of supporting militant Islamic organisations of her Swiss nationality. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) launched proceedings against a woman with triple Swiss, French and Tunisian nationality, according to a note in the latest edition of the Federal Gazette. […]
(Swiss Info) The Swiss Federal Criminal Court has decided to extend the pre-trial detention of a man accused of supporting a criminal group, attempted murder and violating the law banning Islamic State. The man, a citizen of canton Vaud in western Switzerland, […]
(Swiss Info) A Muslim preacher at a mosque near the city of Lucerne has been suspended over controversial statements about wife-beating. An umbrella group representing the local Muslim community told the media on Wednesday that the imam no longer worked at the […]
(Swiss Info) Switzerland’s top court has upheld a decision to not renew the residence permit of an imam from Kosovo guilty of domestic abuse. The Federal Court on Tuesday upheld an earlier decision of the St Gallen court in eastern Switzerland where the man lives. […]
(Swiss Info) The office of the attorney general of Lucerne has opened an investigation into an Iraqi imam at the Dar Asalam mosque in the town of Kriens. The man is alleged to have advised followers to beat their wives if they […]
(Swiss Info) The Federal Court has confirmed a one-month custodial sentence handed down to a 17-year-old boy charged with violating Swiss terror and gun laws. At the end of June, the Geneva prosecutor for minors initiated a criminal probe against the 17-year-old […]
(Swiss Info) Swiss parliamentarians have rejected a right-wing call for an outright ban on the wearing of face coverings, such as burkas, in public. The text rejected on Thursday by the Senate is a people’s initiative aiming to completely ban face coverings — […]
(Swiss Info) The number of Turkish refugees in Switzerland has risen by around 130% since a failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan three years ago, according to the NZZ am Sonntag. The newspaper, quoting information from the State Secretariat for […]
(Swiss Info) The Federal Parliament building in Bern is to be better protected against potential terrorist attacks by erecting bollards on the northern side. A dozen stone bollards will be erected on the sidewalk opposite the parliament square that hosts a twice-weekly […]
(Swiss Info) The Geneva native turned Islamic State fighter was captured by the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the eastern Syrian town of Al-Baghuz. Several Swiss newspapers on Sunday reported that the 24-year-old Daniel D. was seized last month. The Swiss […]
(Swiss Info) Judges at the Swiss Federal Court have thrown out an appeal by an imam convicted of inciting hate and violence, who worked at a Winterthur mosque. The man was convicted by a Zurich district court in 2017 and given a suspended […]
(Swiss Info) A Bern politician looks set to test Switzerland’s decade-long ban on the construction of minarets by objecting to a dome that is planned for a religious community building in the Swiss capital. The local parliamentarian of the rightwing People’s Party […]
(Swiss Info) A new survey has found that about 40% of the 130 known Islamist militants in Switzerland receive welfare payments, including unemployment and disability benefits. Most of them are young men, living in suburban areas notably in the French-speaking part of the country, […]
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