(Swiss Info) The Swiss authorities have negotiated the release of two half-sisters, aged 15 and nine, from a Kurdish-controlled camp in Syria back to Switzerland. They were taken from Geneva to Syria by their mother in 2016 when she joined the Islamic […]
(Swiss Info) Six people have had their convictions upheld for detaining and attacking two other worshippers at a controversial mosque, which has since been shut down. The attack took place in the An’Nur mosque in the northeastern Swiss city of Winterthur in […]
(Breitbart) A Swiss man from the city of St. Gallen is facing trial after allegedly distributing propaganda for the Islamic State terrorist group between February 2018 and October 2019. The 27-year-old man, identified only by his initials A.Z., is set to face […]
(Reuters) Switzerland will not accept large groups of refugees arriving directly from Afghanistan, the government said on Wednesday, as a Swiss army unit arrived in Kabul to assess the situation. The neutral Alpine country has promised to evacuate local workers for a […]
(Swiss Info) The government has decided against introducing state-run training courses for imams as a way of preventing the potential radicalisation of extremist preachers. A religious neutrality clause in the Swiss constitution and an international comparison led the government to its conclusion […]
(Swiss Info) Switzerland has suspended repatriations to Afghanistan “until further notice owing to the changed situation in the country,” according to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). No new deportations of rejected asylum-seekers will be ordered, it said on Wednesday. Preparations for […]
(Swiss Info) The Swiss justice authorities have indicted a Muslim preacher accused of racial discrimination and welfare fraud. Abu Ramadan will have to stand trial in a district court, the Bern cantonal prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday. The controversial imam of a […]
(Swiss Info) Voters have endorsed a series of measures allowing police to crack down on militant extremists and apply preventive detention methods, giving Switzerland one of the strictest anti-terrorism legislations in Europe. Final results show the law winning nearly 57% of the […]
(Reuters) A Swiss law giving the police new powers to fight terrorism could expose people to torture abroad and risks harming children, human rights and legal experts told Reuters ahead of a nationwide referendum on the law. After a series of attacks […]
(AFP) From the UN to Amnesty, fears abound that a new Swiss anti-terror law, which grants sweeping new powers to police to prevent future attacks, threatens Switzerland’s heritage as a human rights leader. Shocked by the deadly terror attacks in neighbouring France […]
(Swiss Info) Despite multiple pleas from international bodies, Switzerland refuses to repatriate adult detainees from Syrian camps, a policy that effectively leaves seven Swiss children stranded in the war-torn country. They were just four and nine years old, when in 2016 their […]
(Swiss Info) Both Swiss nationals who were arrested after the November 2020 attack in Vienna have been released from pre-trial detention. The older of the two — who was 24 when arrested — was released recently. The Attorney General’s Office told the […]
(Reuters) United Nations human rights experts urged Switzerland on Thursday to repatriate two Geneva sisters from a squalid camp in north-eastern Syria five years after the girls were allegedly abducted by their mother who joined Islamic State (IS). A senior Swiss foreign […]
(Swiss Info) On June 13, Swiss voters will decide the fate of a new anti-terrorism law which has sparked controversy both domestically and abroad. For some, the law is a threat to the rights of innocent citizens, while others say it will […]
(Reuters) The Swiss government on Tuesday defended a new anti-terrorism law that will be put to a nationwide referendum in June and that includes restrictive measures on child suspects. Under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy, a committee collected signatures to force a […]
(Swiss Info) A third of the Swiss population say they feel disturbed by people perceived as “different,” with a fifth mentioning Muslims in particular, according to a government study. The Federal Statistical Office said on Thursday that tolerance had increased slightly but […]
(Anadolu) Turkey has deported a total of 2,764 foreign [terrorist] fighters (FTFs) of 67 different nationalities since 2019, the country’s Interior Ministry announced on Sunday. In a statement, the ministry said the FTFs had left their home countries to join ranks of […]
(Anadolu) The human rights board of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Saturday strongly condemned last Sunday’s referendum in Switzerland passing a ban of facial coverings. On Twitter, the OIC’s Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) said it “strongly condemns Swiss […]
(JTA) Swiss voters passed a referendum on banning face-covering veils, prompting the country’s Muslim and Jewish groups to protest that infringement on religious freedoms. The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities and the Platform for Liberal Jews in Switzerland said the ban, which […]
(Swiss Info) Unlike their compatriots in Switzerland, the Swiss abroad rejected the “anti-burka” initiative and the free trade deal with Indonesia by a slim margin. The biggest difference in voting trend was on the electronic ID referendum, which the Swiss abroad wanted […]
(AP) The U.N. human rights office expressed dismay on Tuesday that Switzerland is set to join a few other countries where “actively discriminating against Muslim women” is legal, after Swiss voters approved a ban on face coverings like burqas and niqabs that […]
(Swiss Info) Supporters of a people’s initiative to ban face coverings in public have carried the vote with a majority of 51.2%. A decade after another national vote that banned the building of minarets, Switzerland will introduce a clause in its constitution […]
(AP) At a time when seemingly everyone in Europe is wearing masks to battle COVID-19, the Swiss go to the polls Sunday to vote on a long-laid proposal to ban face coverings, both the niqabs and burqas worn by a few Muslim […]
(Reuters) “Stop Extremism!” urges a red billboard in a quiet village outside Zurich above an image of a scowling woman wearing a black headscarf and face veil. The billboard is part of a campaign by the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) to […]
(Al-Jazeera) Less than a year ago, Valentina made the decision to switch her headscarf for a niqab. “I feel better and safer wearing it,” she told Al Jazeera. “It is also an act of worship.” For the 32-year-old from Switzerland, who prefers […]
(Swiss Info) Two Swiss men suspected of conspiring in a deadly terror attack in Vienna last year have been denied bail, according to media reports. The duo were aged 18 and 24 when they were arrested in the Swiss city of Winterthur in […]
(Swiss Info) Support for a proposed ban on facial coverings, including burkas, in Switzerland appears to be on the wane according to a new opinion poll. A law on a licensed electronic ID scheme looks set to fail, while a controversial free […]
(Swiss Info) More than ten years after a ballot on banning minarets, Swiss voters have the final say on a proposal to outlaw face coverings in public. Often referred to as “the burka ban,” the initiative by right-wing groups also includes a […]
(Swiss Info) Supporters of a proposed face-cover ban in Switzerland have a clear lead over opponents ahead of a nationwide ballot to be held in March, according to a new opinion poll, published on Friday. Attempts to challenge a government-licensed digital identification […]
(AFP) A clear majority of Swiss voters favour introducing a nationwide prohibition against wearing face-covering garments in public spaces, known as a “burqa ban,” a poll showed Friday. According to the Tamedia poll of 15,000 eligible voters, a full 63 percent of […]
(Reuters) The Swiss government recommended on Tuesday that voters reject a proposal in a planned March 7 referendum to ban full facial coverings such as burqas and niqabs worn by some Muslim women, saying the move would hurt tourism. Under Switzerland’s system […]
(Swiss Info) A French court has sentenced a Swiss man to 15 years in prison for terror-related charges after finding him guilty of recruiting a group of men online to prepare terror attacks in France and Switzerland. The 31-year-old from Yverdon, canton […]
(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 […]
(Reuters) A Swiss woman who knifed a victim in the neck and grabbed another by the throat in a Lugano department store on Tuesday was a known jihadist who fell in love with a militant online and tried in vain to meet […]
(Reuters) A Swiss woman grabbed a woman by the neck and wounded another in the neck with a serrated knife in a department store in the southern Swiss city of Lugano on Tuesday in what federal prosecutors called a suspected terror attack. […]
(Reuters) The two men arrested in the Swiss town of Winterthur near Zurich last week over possible links to a jihadist shooting attack in Vienna on Nov. 2 visited the attacker in July and he may have visited the Zurich region, Swiss […]
(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 […]
(AFP) Eight of those detained following Monday night’s terrorist attack in Vienna had previous convictions, including for terror offences, the Austrian interior minister said Thursday, as the investigation extended to Switzerland and a second, unnamed country. In the wake of the attack […]
(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 […]
(Reuters) Swiss federal prosecutors took charge of a homicide investigation, saying on Monday they could not exclude a terrorist motive for the fatal stabbing of a Portuguese man in the western town of Morges at the weekend. Police in Vaud canton had […]
(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 […]
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