Swiss Attorney General files indictment against two men over IS links 

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). 

The Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona © Ti-press

According to the indictment, the principal accused, a Swiss-Italian dual citizen domiciled in Winterthur, located near Zurich, supported IS in Syria – having travelled there – and recruited several individuals for 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 said in a statement on FridayExternal link. 

The OAG also accuses the defendant of having supported IS as well as related organisations by disseminating propaganda material and of having possessed relevant representations of acts of violence. 

The second accused, a Swiss-Macedonian dual citizen domiciled in Frauenfeld in northern Switzerland, is charged with having attempted to travel to IS territory in order to join the organisation (via Macedonia where he was stopped by local police), and also with the recruitment of one individual for IS. He also faces charges relating to propaganda material and possessing representations of acts of violence. 

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. The proposals for sentencing will be made public during the main trial at the Federal Criminal Court, which is situated in Bellinzona, in Italian-speaking Switzerland.