Appeal court convicts six worshippers of attack in mosque
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 2016. The victims were set upon for allegedly informing a journalist about hate preaching at the mosque.
The original trial in 2018 of 10 people, including a youth, found eight guilty and ordered that four be deported from Switzerland.
A Zurich appeals court on Wednesday agreed that six of the defendants were guilty and handed out sentences of suspended prison sentences and fines. The court quashed two convictions and the deportation orders.
The case could yet be appealed further in the federal courts.
The events date back to 2016 when police raided the mosque following media reports of hate preaching and the recruitment of worshippers as jihadi fighters.
An Ethiopian preacher was found guilty of hate preaching and deported. In 2017, it was announced that the controversial mosque would be shut down.
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