Indictment filed against Islamic State terrorist by the Swiss authorities
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has filed an indictment against an Iraqi citizen in the Federal Criminal Court. He is accused of being a member of and carrying out various activities for the Islamic State terrorist organisation (IS) while operating from Switzerland. The suspect held a position of authority in relation to other IS members, some also in high-ranking positions.
The OAG alleges that the suspect violated the Federal Act on the Proscription of the Groups «Al-Qaeda», «Islamic State» and Associated Organisations (SR 122). He is also accused of participation in IS as a criminal organisation (Art. 260ter no 1 Swiss Criminal Code (SCC)), commercial fraud (Art. 146 para. 1 and 2 SCC) and multiple counts of producing and storing representations of acts of violence (Art. 135 para. 1 SCC).
The OAG opened criminal proceedings in the case in November 2016. The suspect was arrested in May 2017 and has since been in pre-trial detention. On filing the indictment, the OAG requested the competent compulsory measures court to order the suspect to be held in preventive detention.
The OAG alleges that the suspect, from around 2014, but at the latest from mid-2016 and until his arrest in May 2017, was a member of terrorist organisation IS, operating from Switzerland. Investigations in this connection uncovered an extensive transnational network involving the suspect and over 20 other IS members in Switzerland, Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Finland and in another location as yet unidentified.
The suspect held a position of authority in relation to other IS members, some also high-ranking, and functioned as a recruiter, trafficker, cash-provider and as the recipient of instructions from leading IS members.
The suspect is alleged to have carried out numerous activities for IS. He is accused of attempting in April 2017 to incite an IS member living in Lebanon to carry out a suicide attack in Lebanon on behalf of IS. The attack was prevented in time.
The suspect is also alleged to have agreed to carry out orders from a high-ranking IS member to prepare for attacks in Switzerland. In addition, according to the indictment, he provided IS with financial support, recruited several persons for the IS and assisted them in travelling to join IS and instructed an IS member living in Syria to set up IS sleeper cells.
The investigations did not reveal any indication that an actual attack was imminent in Switzerland. The persons named in the indictment as having been recruited for or sent to IS by the suspect did not include anyone resident in Switzerland or any Swiss citizens.
Source: Admin CH
