Combating terrorism: Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland brings charges against two suspected IS members
Swiss Government
Bern, 19.12.2024 -- The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has brought charges before the Federal Criminal Court against two Swiss nationals aged 22 and 28. The OAG alleges that the two residents of Canton Zurich, who have prior convictions, initially supported the banned terrorist group 'Islamic State' (IS) and then subsequently became members. They are accused of having intended to travel to Syria to join IS there. Furthermore, they are alleged to have carried out extensive propaganda activities for the benefit of IS as well as providing financial support to IS.
In this context, the OAG has been conducting criminal proceedings since December 2021 and has now indicted the two accused of supporting a terrorist organization (Art. 260ter para. 1 let. a no. 2 in conjunction with let. b of the Swiss Criminal Code, SCC), participation in a terrorist organization (Art. 260ter para. 1 let. a no. 2 SCC) and multiple possession of prohibited representations of acts of violence (Art. 135 para. 1bis a SCC). In June 2022, as part of these criminal proceedings, coordinated arrests and searches were carried out in Switzerland and Germany, resulting in the suspects' arrest (see the press release from the OAG from 14.06.2022).
Planned trip to IS in Syria, propaganda and fundraising
The 22-year-old defendant is accused of supporting IS between April 2020 and December 2021. According to the indictment, he engaged in further acts of support for IS from April 2020 onwards, including operating an IS propaganda channel on Telegram, receiving and forwarding donations for IS, and planning a trip to IS in Syria with another person. He was already an adult during the relevant period.
Integration into IS and attempted journey to Syria to join IS
The OAG also accuses the 22-year-old suspect of having been a member of IS from at least the beginning of December 2021. On December 7, 2021, he is alleged to have attempted to travel to Syria via Turkey to physically join IS as a fighter. At that time, he is said to have been prepared to die as a martyr for IS in Syria and, with this goal in mind, to renounce his life in Switzerland and sever all ties with his local environment. However, he was prevented from continuing his journey by the Turkish authorities and sent back to Switzerland. According to the indictment, before his trip the accused had obtained a so-called "tazkyia" from another IS member, a certificate of trustworthiness serving as a guarantee for new IS recruits.
Integration into IS propaganda structures and renewed travel planning
After his failed attempt to leave the country, the 22-year-old is alleged to have become intensively involved in the production, translation, coordination and distribution of IS propaganda from January 2022. He is said to have worked alongside the 28-year-old co-accused and two men living in Germany: a 62-year-old and a 28-year-old, who are also facing criminal proceedings in Germany.
According to the indictment, the two Swiss suspects operated numerous Telegram channels through which they distributed IS publications translated into German.
From March 2022, the two suspects and the two men in Germany are said to have integrated into IS's official propaganda structures. They became part of a chat group administered by senior IS officials, placing themselves under their authority and taking instructions from them. They also submitted any disputes they had among themselves to IS cadres for binding arbitration. The 28-year-old is said to have supported IS until his admission to the aforementioned chat group, after which he actively participated in it.
The 22-year-old and the 28-year-old are also alleged to have established their own IS media agency, together with the two men living in Germany, to produce German-language IS propaganda. This material was allegedly intended for distribution on a website that served as one of IS's main distribution outlets for propaganda translated into numerous languages.
Additionally, the two suspects are said to have been planning their trip to Syria to join IS from January 2022 until their arrest in June 2022.
IS financed by cryptocurrency
The 22-year-old and the 28-year-old are ultimately accused of financing IS through cryptocurrency transactions with a Bosnian-Herzegovinian national, who was a minor at the time of the offence, amounting to the then equivalent of CHF 12,940.00. The Winterthur Juvenile Court is conducting separate criminal proceedings against the minor.
Both defendants have relevant prior convictions
Both suspects already have prior convictions for supporting IS. The 22-year-old was subject to juvenile criminal proceedings until April 2021 and was convicted by summary penalty order for recruiting for IS and disseminating propaganda in 2019.
The 28-year-old was a defendant in criminal proceedings brought by the OAG until January 2022, he was then suspected of being involved in the attack in Vienna on November 2, 2020, which IS claimed responsibility for. He spent about six months in pre-trial detention, but the case related to the attack was dropped in January 2022. Nonetheless, the suspect was convicted by summary penalty order for distributing IS propaganda.
Course of the criminal proceedings
The two suspects were remanded in custody following their arrest in June 2022. The 22-year-old suspect was released in May 2024 under provisional measures, which continue to this day. The 28-year-old suspect was in custody from August 2023 until September 2024 and then placed in pre-trial detention until the indictment. Preventive detention was ordered for him from the time of the indictment.
In the present criminal proceedings, the OAG collaborated closely with various national and international authorities, including by means of a joint investigation team with the German authorities. The investigations in the Swiss criminal proceedings were conducted by fedpol, with support from the cantonal police forces of the cantons of Zurich and St. Gallen, under the direction of the OAG. The OAG expresses its gratitude to all the authorities involved for their cooperation in this matter.
From the time of the indictment, the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona will be responsible for providing further information to the media. As is customary, the OAG will announce its penalty requests at the main hearing before the Federal Criminal Court. The presumption of innocence applies until a legally binding judgment is handed down.
Original text of the press release in German
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